SOURCE: The St. Petersburg Times
DATE: Issue #711 (78), Tuesday, October 9, 2001
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TITLE: Bombs Rain Down on Afghanistan
PUBLISHER: Combined Reports
TEXT: KABUL, Afghanistan - Antiaircraft fire crackled in the sky over Kabul on Monday, signaling the start of a second night of U.S. strikes. As the new wave began, the Taliban insisted previous attacks by U.S. and British forces missed their mark.
At least three bombs fell in the Kabul area Monday, one each in the eastern, western and northern sections of the city. The targets were unclear. However, the western section of the capital includes a television transmission tower, and the airport is in the north. The abandoned Balahisar Fort is in the eastern district.
Taliban gunners responded with heavy bursts of antiaircraft fire. One high-flying plane could be seen dropping flares before the detonations.
The military campaign is aimed at punishing the Taliban for harboring Osama bin Laden, the man accused of masterminding the Sept. 11 attacks on New York and Washington that killed more than 5,000.
Power was cut in Kabul soon after Monday's U.S. barrage began, and Taliban radio ordered people to close their blinds, shut off lights and stay indoors.
Other strikes were under way at the Taliban stronghold of Kandahar, a Taliban official said. Taliban positions around the northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif were also under attack Monday by aircraft and missiles, a spokesperson for the opposition northern alliance, Ashraf Nadim, said by telephone.
Nadim was speaking from Samangan province, about 50 kilometers from Mazar-e-Sharif. He said opposition leaders were tipped off by the United States a half-hour before Monday's attacks.
Britain, which participated in the first wave of assaults on Sunday, did not take part in Monday's follow-up, Prime Minister Tony Blair said from London.
In Washington, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld suggested there was much left to do after the first night's aerial assault.
We believe we've made progress toward eliminating the air-defense sites," he said. "We believe we've made an impact on military airfields ... We cannot yet state with certainty we have destroyed dozens of command and control and other military targets," he said.
U.S. Air Force Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the fresh bombardment - bombs delivered by 20 warplanes as well as cruise missiles launched from ships - was accompanied by a renewed air drop of humanitarian assistance.
Before Monday's attacks began, President George W. Bush vowed to be "relentless" in fighting terrorism "on all fronts."
In an indication the United States might want to some day expand the military operation, Washington formally notified the UN Security Council on Monday that counterterrorism attacks may be extended beyond Afghanistan.
In addition to Kabul and Kandahar, the first night of strikes Sunday targeted Jalalabad, along the Pakistani border, and Mazar-e-Sharif. The compound of Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar in Kandahar, as well as training bases of bin Laden's al-Qaeda network were also hit in the first night's assault.
Taliban radio on Monday derided the previous night's strikes as a failure. "The American bombardment and rocket attacks didn't hit their targets," it said.
Shortly after the first attacks on Sunday, bin Laden vowed in an apparently pre-taped message that America will "never dream of security." He praised God for the Sept. 11 attacks and said the United States "was hit by God in one of its softest spots."
Taliban officials said both bin Laden and Omar survived the first night's assault.
Before the night assault Monday, the Taliban released a British journalist and handed her over to Pakistani authorities, border officials said. Yvonne Ridley, a reporter for a London tabloid, had been arrested in Afghanistan 10 days earlier, after all foreigners were ordered out of the country. The militia is still holding eight foreign aid workers accused of trying to convert Muslims to Christianity.
Washington called the air strikes that began Sunday night a success, saying military installations and terrorist training camps were prime targets. Britain, which took part in the raids, said some of the camps were apparently empty, but that hitting them deprived al-Qaeda of some of its bases.
A trickle of Afghan witnesses arriving in Pakistan provided accounts of Sunday night's air strikes, which targeted Kabul, along with the cities of Jalalabad and Kandahar-the Taliban's home base.
The Taliban ambassador to Pakistan, Abdul Salam Zaeef, called the U.S.-led attacks indiscriminate terror against civilians, and said 20 women, children and elderly were killed in Kabul in Sunday's assault.
"The brave people of Afghanistan will never be intimidated by these fears," he told journalists in Islamabad. "By sacrificing their lives, they will defend the faith, Islam."
Many humanitarian officials fear the military assault on the Taliban and bin Laden will worsen already widespread hunger and privation in Afghanistan.
Russia, informed in advance about the strikes Sunday, was quick to back them, saying international terrorism should be punished.
A Russian Foreign Ministry statement, read out on national television, said that Taliban-ruled Afghanistan has become an "international center of terrorism and extremism" and a safe haven for "terrorists" responsible for crimes in many countries.
- AP, Reuters
TITLE: Crash Debris Searched for Clues
AUTHOR: By Ana Uzelac
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: SOCHI, Southern Russia - With the Kremlin now ready to consider the possibility that a Russian passenger plane was shot down by a stray Ukrainian antiaircraft missile, investigators on Sunday looked through the piles of debris that have been brought ashore and a vessel searched the bottom of the Black Sea for evidence.
A Sibir Tu-154 airliner flying Thursday afternoon from Tel Aviv to Novosibirsk exploded over the Black Sea, some 180 kilometers off the coast of Sochi, killing all 78 people aboard. Most of the passengers were Israeli citizens with Russian roots who were on their way to visit relatives. A 21-member Israeli delegation arrived Sunday in Sochi to help identify the 14 bodies that were recovered by a Russian freighter. Eight have been identified, officials said.
Ukraine's military has denied that a missile fired during an air-defense exercise on the Black Sea coast downed the plane, saying it did not have sufficient range. But President Vladimir Putin was not satisfied with the documentation on the exercises that Ukraine has provided so far, Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said Saturday.
Putin had demanded more information about the firing of an S-200 missile at 1:41 p.m. Moscow time, three minutes before the Sibir plane disappeared from radar screens, Ivanov said on RTR television.
"All versions of what happened are being examined, including the possible link between the plane crash and the air defense exercises held by the Ukrainian armed forces," Ivanov said.
Just hours after the crash, unnamed U.S. defense officials in Washington said that data from an early-warning missile-tracking system showed the plane was hit by a surface-to-air missile.
Putin initially said he had no reason to doubt Ukraine's denial. Ivanov said the "so-called version" of a stray rocket was "launched by the media." A terrorist attack or malfunction of the aircraft were given as more likely possibilities Thursday.
But at a press conference Saturday in Sochi, Security Council head Vla di mir Rushailo confirmed the plane was "hit by an explosion," although he would not elaborate on what kind of explosion. He said investigators have found "foreign objects" among the airplane debris, but said these might be anything, including the passengers' personal belongings.
The Associated Press reported that officials involved in the salvage effort described finding a large floating cylindrical object that they could not identify. Fragments of the plane that were found floating in the sea - broken seats, soaked cushions, a wheel, unrecognizable pieces of metal, even some personal belongings - were piled in a small hangar at Sochi's airport. Many had small round holes in them. The largest fragment - a piece of bent metal just more than a meter high - had a big jagged hole in the middle, much like a shrapnel hole.
The New York Times quoted an unidentified official at the Severny Zavod missile factory saying that S-200s shoot down aircraft by blasting them with shrapnel. It is not unusual for the body of the missile to survive the attack, the official said.
The bodies that were retrieved had numerous wounds caused by objects that had gone right through them, said Rushailo, who is heading the commission investigating the tragedy. The last sound Russian air-traffic controllers heard from the cockpit of the Tu-154 was of a pilot's scream, said Alexander Neradko, first deputy transportation minister.
"It was not a word, but a scream. It was very short. It only lasted half a second," he said at a news conference Sunday.
The plane's black boxes remain on the bottom of the Black Sea at a depth of more than 2,000 meters. Tatyana Anodina, a member of the special commission, said they were not emitting any radio signals that would make them easier to find.
The search for the black boxes was further hampered by the fact that the silt at the bottom of the Black Sea is 6 meters deep, Interfax reported, citing Deputy Emergency Situations Minister Alexander Moskalets. The bottom of the sea was being searched by an unmanned deep-sea vessel, Triton, which belongs to the scientific research ship Alexander Galitsyn, currently deployed at the place of the crash. But the results were hardly encouraging: Triton managed to search only 30 square kilometers Sunday, less than 10 percent of the area where the debris may lie, which is estimated at some 300 square kilometers.
The Ukrainian Defense Ministry was sending a delegation to Sochi on Monday to help with the investigation.
TITLE: Officials: Fast Trains To Helsinki in 2002
AUTHOR: By Vladimir Kovalyev
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: The management of the Oktyabrskaya Railroad has announced that a high-speed rail link between St. Petersburg and Helsinki could begin service as early as next year. The project, which is part of a larger plan to introduce seven-hour service between Moscow and Helsinki, was given a considerable boost during President Vladimir Putin's state visit to Finland last month.
Finnish authorities, however, were more conservative, estimating that the Finnish portion of the line would be completed only in 2006.
According to a statement issued by Oktyabrskaya Railroad last week, the first step in introducing the new service will be the opening of the Novoladozhsky Railroad Station near the Ladozhsky metro station. Trains between Moscow and Helsinki will stop briefly at the new station, which will eventually serve 36 intercity and 210 suburban trains, most of which are currently served by the Finland and Moscow stations.
According to city documents, the Novoladozhsky Station is scheduled to be completed in 2003 as part of the city's 300th-anniversary celebrations. In January, the Railways Ministry adopted a plan to spend an additional $183 million to complete construction of the station.
The director of the Oktyabrskaya Railroad, Gennady Komarov, stated that the line from Moscow to St. Petersburg had already been prepared for high-speed service. He said that about $475 million had already been spent on this work.
Finnish Prime Minister Paavo Lipponen said that Finland intended to spend about $333 million repairing and upgrading the track from Helsinki to the Russian border and that the work would be completed in 2006.
"President Vladimir Putin discussed the idea of modernizing the railway link between Helsinki and St. Petersburg in September, and we are already working on this project," Lipponen said after a meeting with Northwest District Governor General Viktor Cher kesov late last month.
Lea Viinämäki, the head of the Finnish Railways representative office in Moscow, said that the plans are still too uncertain to be discussed.
"We have got our own project there to launch a high-speed train from Helsinki to St. Petersburg. The speed is going to be increased by 2003, but just a little. The rest is going to happen by 2007 when the renovation of the railway is completed," Viinämäki said in an interview on Monday.
She also said Finnish Railways plans to add additional trains between the two countries this winter to handle the growing number of Russian tourists visiting Finland for Christmas and the New Year.
A major sticking point hampering the introduction of the high-speed service is customs procedures. According to the statement released by the Oktyabrskaya Railroad, Finland and Russia are currently negotiating simplified customs procedures.
However, customs officials contacted by The St. Petersburg Times said that although they had heard about the plan they had received no instructions to prepared new procedures.
"We've heard about a lot of projects to launch ferries and so on, but if nothing has happened, then why imagine things?" said Dmitry Kokko, a spokesperson for the Northwest Customs District, in an interview on Monday.
TITLE: Police Under Fire After Alleged Assault
AUTHOR: By Irina Titova
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: The Norwegian Consulate has sent a diplomatic note to the Russian Foreign Ministry in response to a complaint from a Norwegian citizen who claims that he was beaten and robbed by local police last month. Moreover, a special coordinating council of local officials and representatives of the diplomatic corps will be created to investigate such incidents.
Sahkian Sahak, a 28-year-old Norwegian citizen of Armenian descent, says that he was stopped by police for a random document check on Ligovsky Prospect around 11 p.m. on Sept. 27. He claims that he was taken to a vytrezvitel, or police center where people found in a drunken condition are taken, and there he was beaten. Eight thousand rubles (about $275) and a mobile phone were stolen from him, Sahak claims.
"The consulate general cannot know for sure if the event transpired exactly as Sahak describes," reads the consulate's statement. "On the other hand, we have no reason to disbelieve Sahak's statement, and his story corresponds to other reports about brutal police actions and robberies of foreign guests."
Vladimir Zapevalov, first secretary of the Foreign Ministry's representation in St. Petersburg, said his office had received the note and sent a request to investigate the case to Veniamin Petukhov, chief of St. Petersburg and Leningrad Oblast police.
"We also spoke personally to him on the phone and hope the situation will be thoroughly looked into," Zapevalov said.
"We do not have any reason not to believe the complaint of our citizen," Norwegian Consul General Per Tollefsen told The St. Petersburg Times last week.
Sahak is a student at the Oslo Photographic Art School and came to St. Petersburg with a group of students to shoot a film using Russian actors. He has since returned to Norway.
According to Sahak, who gave a telephone interview from Norway on Monday, he had his passport with him and showed it to police when he was stopped.
"Then the police made me look straight in their eyes and asked me if I had been to Chechnya," Sahak said.
When he said no, the police called him a "liar," put handcuffs on him and hit him from behind, causing him to lose consciousness.
Sahak admits that he had had three beers earlier in the evening, but denies that he was impaired. He also acknowledges using improper language after the police had handcuffed him.
When he came to, he was in city vytrezvytel No. 1, in a cell with three nearly naked men. Sahak was wearing only his underwear and one sock. When he began demanding access to a lawyer and the consulate, police came into the cell and beat him with nightsticks, Sahak said.
"They hit me on my legs and arms, and I still have bruises on my face," Sahak said.
Sahak said he was released at 5:30 a.m. after being forced to sign a document, the contents of which are unknown to him. His Haselblad camera was returned to him, but his Nokia mobile phone and 8,000 of the 23,000 rubles that had been in his possession were missing.
Zapevalov said that a meeting of the diplomatic corps with Petukhov and Vice Governor Mikhail Mikhailovsky on Sept. 29 resolved to create a special coordination council that would consider similar problems and complaints.
"Recently, similar situations have been reported several times and we should do something about it," Za pevalov said. He added that the council will be formed this week and will include representatives of the foreign ministry, the diplomatic corps, the city administration and the police.
Earlier this summer, two visiting Swedish diplomats filed a complaint that they had been beaten and illegally detained by local police for not carrying their passports on the night of Aug. 7.
Viktor Kudryavtsev, head of the St. Petersburg police internal-affairs division, investigated their complaint and determined that "the Swedish diplomats were stopped by the police because they were in a state of intoxication."
"This was done for the protection of the foreign citizens, who could have become the objects of criminal attention walking in such a condition at night," Kudryavtsev said.
Kudryavtsev added that his investigation turned up no evidence of physical abuse or police brutality.
"According to the investigation, the diplomat who got a bloody nose struck it against the police car as he was getting into it," Kudryavtsev said.
However, acting Swedish Consul General Stefan Eriksson told The St. Petersburg Times that he had received a written response to his complaint from the Central District Police Department in which the police apologized for the incident.
Although Eriksson declined to release the letter, he said that it asserted that "the police officers involved in this violation of the rules have been made to answer for their actions in accordance with the law."
Eriksson said that he was surprised that the police had told The St. Petersburg Times that the diplomats were "in a state of intoxication," calling this claim "nonsense."
"We are satisfied with the apologies we have received from the Central District Police Department," Eriksson said.
TITLE: Web Site Helps Businesses Invest in Society
AUTHOR: By Galina Stolyarova
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: A local newspaper has created a page on its Web site devoted to establishing contacts between local businesses and noncommercial organizations that are seeking their help.
The "Social Investment" project grew out of the business daily Delovoi Peterburg's informal experience fulfilling this function, and can be found on the paper's Web site at www.dp.ru.
"As a publication oriented toward money-makers, we often receive letters and requests from the needy and publish them for free in the paper," said Delovoi Peterburg editor Oleg Tretyakov, at a press conference to unveil the project on Friday.
"With the new page, we would like to provide a permanent opportunity for direct contacts between those seeking help and those wishing to help others," Tretyakov said.
According to Yevgeny Machnev of the St. Petersburg Center for the Development of Noncommercial Organizations, the number of local NGOs is nearing 8,500.
Although many of them already have contacts with the business community, "there is still much room for growth and the popular Web site of a business publication is a good choice for such a page," Machnev said.
Noncommercial organizations wishing to place proposals on the page can be either state-run, such as orphanages, hospitals or libraries, or non-state, such as shelters or private schools. They must be officially registered and have been operating continuously for at least two years.
After organizations fill out a special form online, the information will checked and the project evaluated by staff at the St. Petersburg Center for the Development of Noncommercial Organizations, said Anna Orlova, the project's director.
Projects will then be posted on the site for up to six months.
Noncommercial organizations are welcome to solicit financial support or in-kind contributions. Project organizers recommend that requests not exceed $1,000.
The first two projects have already been posted. The charitable foundation Roditelsky Most is seeking families willing to take in disabled children and companies to pay $100 a month to support such a child.
The Nochlezhka foundation, which provides services for the homeless, is seeking sponsorship to organize food deliveries to the needy. Nochlezhka notes that there are about 8,000 homeless people in St. Petersburg, but only two organizations - Caritas and the Salvation Army - that are providing food for a total of 250 people per day.
Nochlezhka is appealing to restaurants, cafes, bakeries and grocery stores, asking them to donate food that is nearing its expiry date to the foundation for distribution to the homeless.
Orlova expects that the page will have as many as 50 such projects by the end of the year.
TITLE: Mariinsky Theater Postpones Touring
PUBLISHER: The St. Petersburg Times
TEXT: The Mariinsky Theater's symphony orchestra and its opera division failed to leave St. Petersburg on Sunday for a scheduled trip to Australia.
The company is set to participate in the Melbourne Festival, but has delayed its departure due to concerns over security raised by the U.S. military action against Afghanistan.
The company had been scheduled to make a stopover in Dubai, United Arab Emirates en route to Australia, and Ma ri insky Artistic Director Valery Ger giev decided the trip would be too risky in the light of developments in the region.
According to the Mariinsky's press office, the Melbourne performance has not been canceled. The troupe is tentatively scheduled to leave St. Petersburg on Oct. 9.
TITLE: Kursk Finally Lifted to Surface
AUTHOR: By Vladimir Isachenkov
PUBLISHER: The Associated Press
TEXT: MURMANSK, Far North - A daring effort to raise the Kursk nuclear submarine from the Barents Sea floor ended successfully Monday when a Dutch consortium pulled it to a giant barge, more than a year after it sank.
The lifting began shortly before 4 a.m. local time, and it took the Dutch Mammoet-Smit International Consortium about 15 hours to complete the operation. The submarine was lifted on steel cables lowered from the Giant 4 barge and put in clamps under the barge, its protruding conning tower and tail fins tightly fitting into niches carved in the barge.
Vice Admiral Mikhail Motsak, the Rus sian naval commander overseeing the recovery operation, said the Kursk should arrive in harbor of the town of Roslyakovo, near Murmansk, midday Wednesday provided the weather stays calm, allowing the salvage team to take the shortest route possible.
"We know the weather forecast and will go directly to the Kola Bay,'' Motsak said.
If the seas get rough, the barge may take a longer journey, allowing it to wait out a storm near the coast. Weather showed a trend toward worsening on Monday evening, with snow flurries covering Murmansk with a thin white film.
The lifting went on exceptionally smoothly and trouble-free after repeated technical problems and delays for the last three months. Experts feared it would be difficult to overcome the force of the sediment on the sea bottom, but that posed no difficulty.
Larissa van Seumeren, a spokesperson for Mammoet-Smit, said the submarine was less deeply embedded in the seabed than believed.
"We started to pull and there was almost no suction,'' she said. "It was lifted up easily.''
Throughout the lifting, remote-controlled cameras and divers inspected the submarine, checking gauges monitoring radiation and the vessel's angle in relation to the barge, said Captain Igor Babenko, a spokesperson for the Russian Northern Fleet.
"The lifting has gone without a hitch. The divers have inspected the submarine and found no flaws in the salvage equipment,'' Babenko said.
While the submarine was still being lifted, the barge pulled up its eight anchors and began drifting slowly to choose the optimum position to minimize roll. The Kursk will now be towed to a dry dock in Roslyakovo at a speed of about 3 knots per hour, Motsak said.
The lifting was originally set for Sept. 15, but delayed repeatedly because of storms and technical difficulties. The Dutch consortium previously severed the submarine's mangled forward section, which will be left on the seabed because of concern that it might have broken off and destabilized the lifting.
Each of the 26 cables lowered from the barge and plugged into the holes cut in the Kursk's hull is a bundle of 54 super strong steel ropes. A central computer was controlling every centimeter of lifting, neatly balancing the required effort between lifting cables.
No holes were cut in the Kursk's reactor compartment, which houses twin nuclear reactors. The Russian Navy and the salvage team say the reactors have been safely shut down and posed no threat to the salvage effort.
"The radiation situation has remained normal,'' van Seumeren said.
Other submarines have been lifted in the past, but none has been comparable in size to the giant 18,000-ton Kursk. Five other nuclear submarines - two American and three Russian - that have sunk in the past remained buried at depths of up to 4,800 meters because raising them would have been enormously expensive.
The Kursk sank just 107 meters below the surface. The salvage operation is costing the Russian government about $65 million.
The government said the Kursk must be raised to avoid any potential danger to the environment from its nuclear reactors and to shipping because of its position in shallow waters. The navy also hopes to determine the cause of the Kursk's sinking, which remains unknown.
The Kursk, one of Russia's most modern submarines, exploded and sank in August 2000 during naval maneuvers, killing its entire 118-man crew. Once it is put in dock, the navy will remove the remains of the crew and 22 Granit supersonic cruise missiles.
TITLE: Russia To Help FBI Look for Bin Laden
PUBLISHER: The Associated Press
TEXT: MOSCOW - Interior Minister Boris Gryzlov has promised the head of the FBI that Russia will provide information about Osama bin Laden, and he asked for U.S. assistance in an international search for Chechen rebels.
Gryzlov told FBI Director Robert Mueller in a telephone conversation late Thursday that his ministry would "transfer all information on the activities of the so-called emissaries of Osama bin Laden in Russia," the Interior Ministry said in a statement released Friday.
Russian officials have long claimed that bin Laden had been funding and training rebels in Chechnya. An aide to President Vladimir Putin claimed last week that at least four suicide perpetrators of the Sept. 11 airplane attacks had previously fought in Chechnya. Last month, The Washington Post cited Saudi newspapers as reporting that six of the suspected hijackers left their homes in the past two years telling their families they were going to fight with rebels in Chechnya. But no evidence that they did so has been made public.
Russia's support for the international anti-terror coalition has bolstered its relations with the United States and other Western countries. U.S. President George W. Bush has endorsed Russia's claim that some rebels in Chechnya had links with bin Laden's al-Qaeda terrorist organization.
Gryzlov told Mueller about the "need for closer bilateral cooperation in the search and detention of people who are members of international terrorist organizations."
"First of all, that concerns operations to detain people involved in terrorist activities on the territory of the Chechen republic who are on a wanted list," Gryzlov said, according to the ministry's statement. "As of now, Russian law enforcement agencies have put 63 people on an international wanted list on charges of involvement in terrorist activities in Chechnya."
According to the ministry, Mueller promised to help and also pledged that the FBI would immediately alert Russia if it receives any information about possible terror attacks being prepared against it.
TITLE: IN BRIEF
TEXT: Russians Come Home
MOSCOW (AP) - Russia sent two planes to Pakistan to bring home citizens because of concerns for their safety, a spokesperson for the Emergency Situations Ministry said Friday.
About 130 people, the relatives of diplomats and other Russians living in Pakistan, were evacuated Saturday from Islamabad and Karachi.
The official said Moscow was concerned for the safety of its citizens because of growing tensions in the region over U.S. assaults on terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden and his training camps in neighboring Afghanistan.
Simpler Visas
MOSCOW (SPT) - The new U.S. Consul General, James Warlick, has called for the United States and Russia to simplify visa procedures and lower visa costs on both sides, Interfax reported.
Speaking Friday at a breakfast organized by the American Chamber of Commerce, Warlick said that consular relations between Moscow and Washington have remained virtually unchanged since the Cold War era and remain among the most complicated.
Both Russia and the United States charge up to $450 for a multi-entry business visa, Warlick said, according to the report.
"We would like to change that," he was quoted as saying.
Warlick added that Russian diplomats are also looking into the possibility of simplifying the procedure and reducing visa costs.
Interfax cited Russian "diplomatic sources" as saying that the United States has not yet submitted any official proposals to this effect.
Warlick also said that Washington has not tightened its visa policy for Russian citizens following last month's terrorist attacks in New York and Washington and does not plan to do so.
Fischer on Chechnya
BERLIN (AP) - German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer has said that Russia's justified fight to protect its territorial integrity did not give it the right to abuse human rights in Chechnya.
Fischer said in a speech Saturday that it was right to regard existing conflicts around the world in a new light following the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States. But he said the world must not forget its fundamental values in the fight against terror.
"The differentiated view of Chechnya should not lead to our suddenly forgetting our own fundamental values of adhering to human rights and of not accepting the breach of human rights," Fischer told a meeting of his Green Party in Berlin.
Fischer said Russia was right to fight separatism, which could unleash a huge potential for conflict if unchecked.
"Russia has a right and duty to defend its territorial integrity. And Russia has the right and the duty to defend the life, freedom and property of its citizens. But that does not justify human rights abuses, which in part are being investigated by Russian prosecutors," Fischer said.
His comments appear to put him at odds with Chancellor Gerhard Schrö der, who hinted last month that the West would take a softer line toward military action in Chechnya after Moscow offered support in the international war against terrorism.
Euronews Bumps MTV
MOSCOW (SPT) - Russia's favorite music channel, MTV, has been bumped off the local airwaves to make way for the Russian version of EuroNews, leaving many questions unanswered about how the switch was allowed to happen and how this will affect the country's music-video lovers.
MTV fans tuning in last week were surprised to see nonstop news broadcasts instead of Beavis and Butthead as EuroNews unexpectedly began its first terrestrial broadcasts.
The 24-hour news channel, based in Lyon, France, began broadcasting in Russian just last month and had been available only via satellite due to a lack of capacity on the country's six major VHF channels, all of which were occupied by stations with licenses from the Press Ministry.
But EuroNews' appearance on Kultura suggests that some sort of deal was reached involving MTV-Russia, the Press Ministry and TeleExpo, which is licensed to broadcast on Kultura 12 hours a day.
Road to Sakhalin
MOSCOW (SPT) - The government on Thursday tentatively approved an ambitious $4 billion Railroads Ministry project to link Sakhalin Island with the Far East mainland.
The rail link - either a bridge or a tunnel - would take eight years to complete.
The ministry insists the link will allow Russia to reap profits from transcontinental transportation - including shipments from Japan to Europe - and possibly generate passenger traffic.
The final decision on the link will be made next year, said Economic Development and Trade Minister German Gref. He said the project will be economically viable only if a further link is built to the Japanese island of Hokkaido, Interfax reported.
The project is expected to include a 450-kilometer rail link from the Far East town of Komsomolsk to Cape La za rev, which will be connected with Cape Pogibi on Sakhalin Island by an 8-kilometer single-track bridge or tunnel.
After the bridge is built, a further 40-kilometer stretch across the ocean may be built to connect Sakhalin with Japan. Railroads Minister, Nikolai Aksyonenko, said construction would be possible only if Japan joins the project as an investor.
Putin's Birthday
MOSCOW (Reuters) - President Vla dimir Putin turned 49 on Sunday, but last week's downing of a Russian airliner - possibly a missile blunder involving neighboring Ukraine - took the shine off birthday celebrations and recent diplomatic successes.
The day was marked by none of the commentaries and television pictures of visiting religious and political figures familiar when Boris Yeltsin was the Kremlin's tenant.
Presidential officials said Putin was in Moscow, but could not say whether he was spending the day with family, dealing with the Afghanistan crisis or handling the aftermath of Thursday's Sibir airline crash, in which 78 people died.
Suspects Given Over
TBILISI, Georgia (AP) - Georgian authorities on Saturday handed over to Moscow 13 people suspected in bomb attacks in Russia who crossed into Georgia illegally last June, officials said.
The armed group of 13 Russians was detained after they crossed the border from Russia, the Georgian prosecutor's office said. They were charged with crossing the state border illegally.
At Moscow's request, they were extradited to Russia, where they face more serious charges of terrorism, the prosecutor's office said. The 13 are suspects in the apartment-house bombings two years ago in Moscow and Volgodonsk, according to the office of Sergei Yastrzhembsky, the Kremlin's chief spokesperson on Chechnya.
TITLE: Pasko: Committed to Telling the Toxic Truth
TEXT: Four years ago, Russian Navy Captain Grigory Pasko - then a military journalist - was jailed on charges of high treason for allegedly selling state secrets to Japan, primarily concerning Russia's disposal of nuclear waste. Pasko, who was a stringer for Japanese news station NHK, had filmed the dumping of liquid radioactive waste in the Sea of Japan and documented other environmental hazards created by the Pacific Fleet. The charges against Pasko remained secret, but those leaked to the press by Pasko's supporters bordered on the ludicrous. He was accused, for example, of illegally covering a meeting at which top brass planned a military training exercise - despite the fact that he had been specifically invited to cover the meeting for Boyevaya Vakhta, the Pacific Fleet newspaper. Amnesty International adopted Pasko as a prisoner of conscience, and a flood of letters arrived defending him as a second Alexander Nikitin, another former navy captain who was tried repeatedly for revealing environmental abuses by the Northern Fleet. Last year after 20 months in jail, Pasko was acquitted of treason charges and convicted on a minor charge of unmilitary conduct. He was sentenced to time served and released. Both the Federal Security Service, or FSB, and Pasko sought to overturn the decision. The FSB wanted Pasko behind bars. Pasko wanted to clear his name. Pasko spoke with The St. Petersburg Times' Russell Working in Vladivostok about the case against him, his fight for vindication and the environmental problems facing Russia's Far East.
Q:Where does your case currently stand, and what verdict do you expect?
A: I suspect the appeal is two-thirds done. On Sept. 28, the court declared a one-month recess. On Nov. 29, the court will announce the results of its review of all the documents. Then both sides will present arguments. And finally, the court will announce a verdict.
Nov. 20 will mark four years since this whole thing started. Under the law, the court has no grounds for conviction. Our opponents are grasping at all sorts of charges. They're even trying to charge me under Article 283:divulging state secrets. It's nonsense. No crime has been committed. They leak information to the press, trying to convince the public that Pasko is a criminal. They failed to prove that I was a spy, so now they think any charge will do. Pasko must be convicted. But we think the verdict will be "not guilty." If not, we'll appeal to the international court in Strasbourg.
Q: It is said that since you no longer work for the Pacific Fleet, no one covers its environmental problems anymore. What dangers are people not hearing about?
A: I can't answer this concretely, because I have been out of the loop for four years. But judging from what Pacific Fleet officers tell me, and also from what I have learned during my closed military trial - it was declared a "secret" proceeding only to prevent the public from learning about the lawlessness of the FSB and military officials in contaminated areas - the biggest radiation threats in Primorye are the decommissioned nuclear submarines and nuclear-waste storage sites. In the Far East, nuclear submarines are located in two places: Krasheninnikova Bay in Kamchatka and near Sysoyeva Bay in Primorye. In these two spots there is potential for a disaster of enormous proportions.
But the environmentalists say we suffer most from the garbage dump at Gornostai Bay, and from the huge number of cars that poison the air. And they are right. The local government can't even cope with a relatively small problem like a garbage dump within Vladivostok city limits on the shore of Peter the Great Bay. How do you expect them to deal with decommissioned submarines?
Q: Have the authorities done anything right?
A: Yes, some things have been done. In Bol shoi Kamen, they built a floating plant to purify radioactive waste. The construction order was issued in 1992, but the plant only came online this year. Thanks to American aid, they have the capacity to store nuclear fuel at Sysoyeva Bay and to store ballistic missiles from the submarines before they are processed.
I suspect that the countries that might help solve these problems don't appreciate the truly horrific situation in our dangerous radioactive zones. And they don't know because Russia, following Soviet practice, classifies all information on nuclear-waste storage.
Last year, all the decommissioned submarines and storage facilities were handed over to the Atomic Energy Ministry. Now the Pacific Fleet bears no responsibility for them. The ministry created a government-owned company, Dalrao, to handle the subs and storage facilities. And they appointed a former military man, Rear Admiral [Nikolai] Lysenko, to run it. Lysenko has demonstrated a crude adherence to the government line. When he was asked in court what he knew about Article 7 of the Official Secrets Act [which stipulates that information about environmental dangers cannot be classified], he replied: "I don't need to know anything about that. The Defense Ministry issued a contrary decree, No. 075." Until someone charges officials like Lysenko with criminal concealment of information affecting public health, he and his ilk will never have any cause to shake up their petrified military mindset.
Q: Did you ever knowingly photocopy secret documents, as rumor has it?
A: I never broke the law. First of all, military journalists are so restricted in their work that they can't do anything without someone else's participation. It would be impossible to get hold of secret documents containing evidence of Soviet dumping of thousands of barrels of [the poisonous chemicals] lewisite and yperite without anyone's knowledge. I knew, however, that such documents existed, and that they contained the exact amounts dumped and geographic coordinates for the dumping sites. But I had no access to them.
Knowing that these documents existed, I exhausted every legal avenue demanding that they be declassified. And when I published articles about the environment I was protected by Article 7 of the Official Secrets Act. Many officers understood this and provided me with information. Strangely, after the articles came out, portions of this information were suddenly classified. Under Russian law, the FSB had no right to do this. They did so in order to build a criminal case against me.
Q: There was talk in navy circles that some of your sources were later punished for providing you with classified information.
A: That's nonsense. Fifty-three witnesses have been interrogated. None of my regular sources ever gave me classified documents. And none of them has been punished.
Q: If your cause hadn't been taken up by human-rights groups and the international press, is it possible that the judge in your first trial would have ruled to keep you in jail instead of releasing you?
A: Had I been a Japanese spy, probably yes. The court received 24,000 letters from all over the world - from Australia, America, all over Europe. If 48,000 letters had been delivered, but I had been guilty, they wouldn't have helped. Faced with my clear innocence and 24,000 letters, the court still found me guilty of a bizarre charge that doesn't apply to my case.
When I talk to journalists from other countries, I always thank the people and organizations for their concern. For some reason, the biggest number of letters to the court and various government agencies came from Holland. So I thank all the countries that supported me - we counted 98 of them - and to the Dutch I bear a special debt of gratitude.
TITLE: Oblast Project To Ease Strain on City's Port
AUTHOR: By Andrey Musatov
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: With an investment estimated by shipping-industry insiders to be in the vicinity of $40 million, the Leningrad Oblast's Ust-Luga sea port is positioning itself to become a major center for handling cargoes to and from other Baltic sea ports.
The Ust-Luga Company, which is behind the plans for the port's development, says the water depth at the facility will allow ships weighing up to 75,000 tons to use the port 250 days per year without the assistance of icebreakers.
The first section of the complex, which is for loading coal for export, is slated to be opened by the end of the year and, once completed in late 2004 or early 2005, will have a loading capacity of 35 million tons per year.
Located about 150 kilometers west of St. Petersburg on the southern coast of the Gulf of Finland, the port has already set up a new subsidiary, MASKOUL, which will operate its fleet of service vessels.
MASKOUL was set up as a joint venture with MASKO, which operates the service vessels at the port in Murmansk. As part of their agreement, MASKO will rent a number of vessels to the Ust-Luga port, including two tugboats that will be used in the coal-shipping operations scheduled to begin in December.
The construction plan for the transport terminal was created by the Lenmorniiproekt Institute, Russia's largest port-design firm. The company specializes in site research, underwater construction and general port-facility construction.
The economic side of the port's plan was developed in conjunction with the U.S.-based National Ports and Waterways Institute, which is run cooperatively by George Washington University and Louisiana State University.
The new terminal will occupy more than 800 hectares and will include zones for the loading and unloading of coal, iron ore, oil, mineral fertilizers, cargo containers and lumber, as well as providing ferry service for cars, trucks and trains.
Valery Izrailit, chairperson of the board of directors of the Ust-Luga Company declined to name a price for the total cost for the port project, but the maritime information agency Seanews.ru has estimated the cost at about $40 million.
The Ust-Luga Company is planning to set up a subsidiary company by the end of this year to handle negotiations for the construction of the various port facilities.
The facilities for the loading of mineral fertilizers, coal, lumber and oil have already attracted investors including, mineral-fertilizer producers Akron and Silvinit, the Baltic Wood-Processing Holding and the St. Petersburg Oil Terminal, but investors and clients for the other sections of the port have yet to be determined.
"The other sections of the project have attracted the attention of a number of companies and banks," Olga Berdikova, the press secretary at the Ust-Luga Company said. "We expect that they will sign agreements soon."
According to Berdikova, among other interested companies, are local ferry-boat transport company Sea Express and Maersk Sealand, a part of the Danish transport firm A. P. Moller Group, which specializes in transporting containers. Berdikova said that Maersk Sealand will likely build its own facility in the port for handling cargo.
"The terminal is in a very good location in a bay that is largely ice-free with an entrance channel that will be deepened to 14 meters," Izrailit said. "All of this makes operations here cheaper and will make the site a serious competitor for other ports in the region."
The St. Petersburg and Primorsk ports are currently the busiest in the region. St. Petersburg handled 32.5 million tons of cargo in 2000, trailing only the 34.7 million tons handled by the Latvian port of Ventspils and ahead of the 29.3 million tons that passed through the port in Tallinn, Estonia.
The figure for St. Petersburg represented a 15-percent jump over that for 1999 and transport-industry officials say that the new harbor is unlikely to have a negative effect on cargo volumes passing through the local facility.
"In this year alone, the volume of cargo passing through the St. Petersburg port has risen by 20 or 30 percent," Karl Gofman, general director of Delta Shipping, said Monday. "The port here doesn't have the capacity to handle the present volume, so both sides will profit from this."
And the city's drivers also have something to look forward to in relation to the new facility.
"Another good thing about the new port is that it will ease the strain on the city's transport system," he added. "The location of the St. Petersburg port means that cargo has to be transported through the city center. The new port is far from the city."
TITLE: Russia Tries To Attract Swedish Investment
AUTHOR: By Kirill Koriukin
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: MOSCOW - Deputy Economic Development and Trade Minister Arkady Dvorkovich urged a delegation of Swedish investors to spend more money in Russia on Monday, showering them with promising economic forecasts.
Dvorkovich said economic growth would reach 5.5 percent or even 6 percent this year if growth rates of the past two months hold. The target in this year's budget was 4 percent.
Dvorkovich also said at the forum, timed to coincide with a Swedish royal visit, that investment into the economy may grow 8 percent.
He added that even a drastic fall in oil prices would not upset the economy and force the government to default on debt. He said a default would only loom if oil prices fell sharply to late 1990s lows of $10 a barrel and remained depressed for three years. Oil is currently selling at closer to $20 a barrel.
If oil prices remain stable, Russia will meet all payments and may even have little foreign debt left by 2010, he said.
Dvorkovich, after outlining government plans for banking, tax, land, judicial and pension reforms, told the Swedish businesspeople that the investment climate in Russia would continue to improve. He said a plan was being drafted to set up industrial zones with special benefits like tax breaks for foreigners. The plan would be presented to the public in the near future, he said, without elaborating.
The Swedish delegation, which included leaders from several trade associations and companies such as Vol vo, Electrolux and Ericsson, appeared impressed.
"You have answered all our questions," Soren Gyll, president of the Confederation of Swedish Entrepreneurs, said at the end of the presentation to other participants' applause.
The volume of trade between Sweden and Russia, which had been sliding since 1997, rose by a whopping 20 percent year on year to $1.4 billion in 2000. Russia exported about $900 million worth of commodities to Sweden, mostly raw materials, an 18-percent increase from last year, the ministry's Center for Strategic Research said in a statement.
However, Dvorkovich said he hoped the structure of Swedish-Russian business would undergo a qualitative change as Swedish giants launch local production.
"If, for example, producers of home appliances pay taxes here, this would bring Russia billions of dollars in revenues," he said.
Russia is planning to export to Sweden more value-added goods such as car parts, furniture and textiles, the Center for Strategic Research said.
The investors forum came hours after Sweden's King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia arrived for a weeklong official visit.
TITLE: Markets Sluggish Despite Credit Upgrades
AUTHOR: By Victoria Lavrentieva
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: MOSCOW - All three major international rating agencies have handed Russia upgrades over the past two months, but the news has done little to stir Russian stock and debt markets.
The reason is that the upgrades were already priced into the market and investments remain highly speculative, market players say.
Moody's made the first upgrade at the beginning of September by giving Russian Eurobonds a "B3," a higher rating than that held by Brazil, Argentina and Turkey.
Standard and Poor's and Fitch followed suit last Thursday. S&P confirmed its long- and short-term Russian debt "B" ratings and revised the outlook on the long-term credit rating from "stable" to "positive." That puts Russia in the same category as Mongolia and higher than the "B<" assigned to Argentina and Turkey. Fitch raised Russia's long-term foreign-currency rating to "B+" from "B."
"Of course this is good news for Russia," said Alexei Zabotkine, economist at United Financial Group. "But at the end of the day it does not change anything because Russia's sovereign rating is still in the so-called speculative grade, far from the investment category that would allow the major investment funds to invest in local instruments.
"Russia still has a long way to go until that happens," Zabotkine added.
"Investors have little reason to feel cheered by the new ratings because the rating agencies' adjustments were mere reflections of current market perceptions," said Richard Hainsworth, head of RusRating and a former Russia director for Thomson BankWatch.
"Rating agencies tend to be conservative in their approach and react to events only when they have considerable evidence," he said.
Both S&P and Fitch praised Russia for its strong economic performance and progress with reforms, but those trends have been clear for at least six months.
"These announcements are definitely debt supportive but unlikely to spur gains, as all future upgrades have already been priced in by the market," Troika said in a research note Friday.
Some analysts said that the market was even disappointed by the recent upgrades.
"People were a little disappointed that the agencies did not go forward with the Russian ratings upgrade," said a debt trader with Morgan Stanley in London who asked not to be identified. "Also, Russian bonds are affected by different factors, and ratings is not a major one now," he said.
The decisions by S&P and Fitch boosted 30-year bonds Friday, but medium-term paper remained almost unchanged.
"There is still a very big gap between the short-term and long-term bonds in terms of their yield," said a Morgan Stanley broker.
TITLE: Local Telecoms' Plan Enters Second Phase
AUTHOR: By Andrey Musatov
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: The St. Petersburg Telephone Network (PTS) is once again playing the role of guinea pig for Svyazinvest in the national telephone-network monopoly's scheme to restructure Russia's telecoms industry. As a result, PTS is now moving ahead with plans to incorporate all of the telephone operators in the Northwest Region of Russia into its structure.
The process is part of Svyazinvest's general restructuring plan, under which over the next three years more than 80 regional telephone companies will be merged into seven larger companies providing services in areas roughly corresponding to the seven super-regions created by the Putin government. Svyazinvest owns majority stakes in all of the companies involved.
As a result of reorganization in the Northwest Region, local pro vid ers based in Ark han gelsk, the Republic of Karelia, Pskov, Cherepo vets, Vo logda, Mur mansk, Novgorod and Kaliningrad will integrate with PTS under the brand North-West Telecom. The resulting company will own 3.5 million telephone lines serving a territory with a population of more than 14 million.
The boards of all of the companies involved held meetings to discuss the details of the merger in Moscow at the end of September, with the PTS board agreeing to hold a general shareholders meeting Nov. 28 to ratify all aspects of the deal, according to reports from Commnews.
The first phase of the plan was completed last year when St. Petersburg Intercity and International Telephone (SPMMT) and St. Petersburg Telegraph (SPT) were folded into PTS.
The merger will follow the same basic scheme as that used during the earlier amalgamation, with the shares in the regional telephone-service providers converted into North-West Telecom shares.
Under the plan, PTS shareholders will receive a 63.8 percent stake in the resulting company, with Arkhangelsk's Artelecom holding 7.5 percent, Karelia Electrosvyaz 4.8 percent, Pskovelectrosvyaz 2.2 percent, Cherepovetselectrosvyaz 2.1 percent, Vologda Oblast Electrosvyaz 2.3 percent, Murmanskelectrosvyaz 8.6 percent, Novgorodtelecom 3.3 percent and Kaliningrad Oblast Electrosvyaz 5.4 percent.
The only telecoms company in the Northwest Region that will not take part in the merger is Lensvyaz, the telephone-service provider in the Le nin grad Oblast. Twenty percent of Len svyaz shares were frozen in 1998 as the result of a dispute between the Le nin grad Oblast Property Fund and the Romeks-Invest financial company over the questions of the stake's true owner. The struggle has yet to be resolved by the courts.
The $450 million merger of the three Petersburg telecoms was announced in March 2000, but was put on hold until Nov. 3 before the Kuibyshevsky Region Federal Court threw out a case filed by Sergei Moiseyev, the owner of 1,000 shares in SPMMT.
But according to Kirill Voloshin, PTS press secretary, to avoid such incidents during this phase the company will "follow the law strictly" and ensure that the merger process exhibits "maximum transparency."
"The company was recently evaluated by the international rating agency Standard&Poor's and received a rating of 5.6 out of 10 for transparency," Vo lo shin said. "The interests of minority shareholders are also served by the fact that there are two minority shareholders on the board of directors."
The ratio used for share conversion will be determined by Renaissance Capital, financial consultant to the deal, based on the companies' business costs, which are calculated using a formula uniting the value of each company's shares in equities markets, a comparison with similar companies, and an analysis of the cash flows and the determination of their net assets.
TITLE: Analysts: Ukraine Got Best of Gas Deal
AUTHOR: By Anna Raff
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: MOSCOW - In resolving a long-standing gas-debt dispute with Ukraine, Russia has gone too far in succumbing to the demands of its "brotherly" neighbor and is likely to receive almost nothing in return, industry analysts said.
"Russia isn't playing all of its cards," Arkady Moshes, a Ukraine expert with the Institute of Europe, said Friday. "The government has bowed down to Ukraine on all counts and in the end doesn't really know for what purpose."
Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov on Thursday signed a deal in Kiev to restructure Ukraine's $1.4-billion gas debt over a period of 12 years. Kasyanov and Ukrainian Prime Minister Anatoly Kinakh agreed on an interest rate of the London Interbank Offering Rate (LIBOR) plus 1 percent, which analysts agreed was very low. Russia initially hoped to set the interest on the loan at 10 percent.
Ukraine has a three-year grace period until the repayment begins.
"Russia is proceeding from the aim of establishing real brotherly relations with Ukraine," Kasyanov said Thursday upon arrival in the Ukrainian capital.
Moshes pointed out that the original debt claimed by Gazprom totaled about $3 billion, and its substantial revision downward is a coup for Ukraine.
And instead of making the debt a sovereign affair as was originally proposed last year, the agreement recognizes it as the corporate debt of the Ukrainian state-owned Naftogaz.
This might pose some problems in the future, and real payment of this debt might be thwarted by the impending privatization of Naftogaz, said Jonathan Stern, a gas expert for the London-based Royal Institute of International Affairs.
"If it's corporate debt, I don't think much will come out of it," Stern said. "It's a big risk. As the Ukrainian gas sector tries to go through liberalization, debt repayment isn't going to be the first thing on their list of priorities.
In other words, there is a high likelihood Ukraine just won't pay, reigniting the debt brawl several years down the road.
Moshes doesn't believe that the debt will somehow get lost during privatization, but he added that "anything is possible in this post-Soviet world."
"The fact that this debt is to be considered corporate as opposed to sovereign reduces the value of this instrument," said the United Financial Group brokerage in a research note Friday.
Russia didn't drive a hard bargain because it has more at stake than gas debts, analysts said. It is currently negotiating a slew of treaties with Ukraine, including the status of the Black Sea Fleet and Ukraine's ethnic Russian population.
In the agreement, Russia does not prohibit Ukraine from re-exporting Russian gas. Until 2003, Russia will also continue to extend to Ukraine a "technical credit" of 1 billion cubic meters of gas and a "seasonal credit" of 5 billion cubic meters every year. If Ukraine were to exploit differences between the prices Europe is willing to pay and Russia is willing to lend, it could see an additional $100 million in revenues.
However, after meetings with Uk rai ni an officials, Kasyanov announced that Ukraine has no intention of exporting gas as long as the country isn't producing enough for its own internal needs.
In backing down on most of its demands, Russia is making a political overture, Stern said.
"Russia's saying, 'Let's make a new beginning. Let's put the past behind us," Stern said. "For a long time, this debt restructuring has cast a cloud over Russian-Ukrainian relations."
Experts say the conclusion of the deal forces Ukraine to recognize the debt and could perhaps discourage unauthorized gas off-takes in the future.
"I know we've had problems in the past, but now we are keeping tabs and everything comes out even on both sides," Vadim Kopylov, Ukraine's first deputy fuel and energy minister and Naftogaz chairperson, said in an interview last month.
TITLE: Rosneft Ready To Throw Hat Into Ring in Bid for Refinery
AUTHOR: By Anna Raff
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: MOSCOW - Rosneft, the state-owned oil firm, is considering entering a heated race for Norsi Oil by placing its own bid for the Nizhny Novgorod refinery.
Gennady Khodyrev, governor of the Nizhny Novgorod region, first voiced the possibility Monday while briefing journalists on talks he conducted with Rosneft management in Moscow.
Rosneft spokesperson Alexander Stepayenko confirmed the company's interest.
"The subject has been brought up and is now being examined by management," Stepayenko said.
No. 1 LUKoil and No. 6 Sibneft have already submitted bids.
On Aug. 15, the Federal Property Fund announced a two-part auction for the sale of Norsi Oil, a holding company that includes a refinery with a capacity of 350,000 barrels a day. A 40-percent stake is to go on the block for a starting price of $10.4 million. Another 45.36-percent is up for a starting price of $11.6 million.
The fund is accepting applications until Oct. 16. The results are to be announced Oct. 19.
Norsi refinery General Director Viktor Rassadin said the company is the region's biggest taxpayer, and Norsi's new owner will have to take this into account.
"No matter how the auction turns out, the refining business in Nizhny Novgorod has to be maintained," Rassadin said in an interview on the Intertek.ru Web site.
Norsi has the largest oil refinery in European Russia.
Norsi Oil was created by a 1995 decree signed by then-Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin. About 15 percent of the holding was sold at a special cash auction the following year.
Further privatization plans were thwarted in 1997, when the Federal Property Fund postponed the sale of Norsi due to lack of interest. Another auction, conducted in 1998, fell flat when the fund was only able to find buyers for 0.5 percent of the shares.
Apart from the government's share in Norsi, LUKoil holds 8 percent and Tatneft controls 6 percent.
TITLE: U.S. Attack Adds to Market Uncertainty
AUTHOR: By Jill Lawless
PUBLISHER: The Associated Press
TEXT: LONDON - Shares plunged across Asia and Europe on Monday and markets opened lower in New York as U.S. and British strikes on Afghanistan created fresh uncertainty in markets that were already nervous.
In Monday's early trading in New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 1.04 percent after having risen 3.1 percent last week.
Shares fell across the board in Europe Monday morning, though their decline slowed in the afternoon. By midafternoon, Frankfurt's DAX index was down 0.68 percent and the Paris CAC 40 had fallen by 0.93 percent.
London's Financial Times-Stock Exchange 100-Share Index was down 1.04 percent in afternoon trading.
Observers said investors were likely to wait and take stock of the fast-changing situation.
"The fall is clearly a reaction to the news and concern about what happens next," said Hilary Cook, director of investment strategy at Barclays Stockbrokers.
"However the fall follows a very strong run. We are feeling more confident about markets now and are using today as a buying opportunity but there is clearly a lot of uncertainty."
Analysts said it was too early to say what long-term effect military strikes would have on markets.
"If it is localized and confined to Afghanistan, I think markets will take it in their stride, but if it spreads there is a serious problem - it will be actual economies affected, not just confidence," said Mike Lenhoff, portfolio strategist at fund manager Gerrard.
Analysts said the decline reflected the climate of economic and political uncertainty.
"There's no sign when a sense of calm will return to the market," said Jose Vistan, analyst at AB Capital Securities in Manila, where Philippine stocks fell 3.7 percent to finish at their lowest level in almost a decade.
Hong Kong blue chips closed down 3 percent, while shares fell 2.6 percent in Singapore and 1.2 percent in Sydney.
Traders worldwide had expected military action in response to the Sept. 11 attacks, but the timing was a surprise, and many investors were staying out of the market until they could see Wall Street's reaction.
"The U.S. attack on Afghanistan didn't deviate from our expectations," said Kim Joo-Hyung, head of research at LG Investment & Securities in Seoul, where prices lost 1.2 percent Monday.
Asia's top stock exchange, Tokyo, was closed Monday for a public holiday.
TITLE: G-7 Heads Vow To Aid In Terrorist Assets Hunt
AUTHOR: By Harry Dunphy
PUBLISHER: The Associated Press
TEXT: WASHINGTON - The world's leading industrialized countries said they would vigorously pursue the financial assets of terrorists. They also pledged to work together to stimulate their economies that were already in a slump before the Sept. 11 attacks.
Finance ministers and central bank governors made these commitments after six hours of discussion Saturday in Washington.
"We stand united in our commitment to vigorously track down and intercept the assets of terrorists and to pursue the individuals and countries suspected of financing terrorists," the Group of Seven countries said in a joint statement.
The G-7 countries - the United Sta tes, Japan, Germany, France, Britain, Italy and Canada - said they were encouraged by the number of other countries that have agreed to join in the effort to make it harder for terrorists to use the international financial system.
The G-7 released a one-page action plan and also announced that the Financial Action Task Force, a group of nations focused on money laundering, would hold a special meeting in Washington on Oct. 29 and 30 to develop new policies to combat terrorist financing.
"We are well on the way to building an international coalition to disrupt terrorist fund raising," Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill declared.
French Finance Minister Laurent Fabius said pressure had to be applied to make all countries comply with whatever standards are developed "particularly offshore centers."
Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown agreed. "We must act to cut off the finances that are the lifeblood of terrorism," he said.
On the global economy, the finance ministers said last month's terrorist attacks in New York and at the Pentagon "could delay the resumption of strong growth in our economies."
But the group said "decisive action has already been taken to support a robust recovery."
The statement did not specify what steps had been pursued or might be taken to boost growth.
The European Central Bank, the Bank of Japan and other central banks joined the U.S. Federal Reserve in the week after the attacks to cut interest rates. The Bush administration has pledged to support about $100 billion in extra spending and tax cuts in the United States.
The G-7 ministers took the unusual step of holding a joint news conference after their closed-door discussions to show their solidarity in the fight against terrorism. Normally, G-7 meetings end with each country holding its own news conference.
O'Neill, who was the host for the discussions along with Federal Reserve Chairperson Alan Greenspan, told the gathering that he was heartened by the show of support and predicted the U.S. economy would soon rebound.
Despite the efforts at confidence building, many economists believe the Sept. 11 attacks have pushed the U.S. economy into a full-blown recession and greatly increased the risk of a global downturn given that Japan is also believed to be in a recession and growth in Europe has slowed dramatically.
TITLE: EU Passes Law for Trans-Europe Cos.
AUTHOR: By Paul Geitner
PUBLISHER: The Associated Press
TEXT: BRUSSELS, Belgium - After 30 years of debate, a law to allow companies to operate throughout the European Union as a single legal entity cleared its final hurdle Monday.
The creation of the first European company, to be known by its Latin name of Societas Europaea, is still at least two years off, however.
The European Company Statute, formally adopted by ministers from the 15 governments meeting in Luxembourg, does not go into force until 2004.
Officials at the EU's head office in Brussels, the European Commission, said they had no indication of how many companies were waiting to take advantage of the new option.
It will be available for companies from countries that are merging or want to set up a joint holding company, as well as to companies with subsidiaries in other countries that want to reorganize.
Internal market commissioner Frits Bolkestein said companies would be able to expand across the EU without the costs and red tape of setting up a network of subsidiaries.
"This is a practical step to encourage more companies to exploit cross-border opportunities and so to boost Europe's competitiveness," he said.
The European Parliament signed off last month on the legislation, which was first proposed in 1970.
The statute would allow a company with capital of at least $108,000 to operate in all 15 countries as a single legal entity without having to register in each.
It had been stalled for decades because of reluctance in some capitals to cede power to the EU in this area, as well as disagreements between countries like Germany with a tradition of worker involvement in management decisions, and countries like Britain where such participation is not mandated.
A compromise was finally reached at the summit of EU leaders last December.
TITLE: 'After all, Knowledge Is Very Important Too!'
TEXT: Editor,
I am a student at St. Petersburg State University, and I read The St. Petersburg Times regularly because it is a reliable source of information from around the globe. Its greatest advantage is that comments are not mixed with reports. That's why its reports are the least biased.
As for the opinions, Western journalists seem to be more sincere. Therefore, it is very interesting to read them, whether I agree with their opinions or not.
Comments by most Russian journalists (including those who write for The St. Petersburg Times) are often mere ridiculous verbiage, comprising some commonplaces and pseudo-philosophical or pseudo-psychological nonsense glued together with pseudo-logical florid phrases and decorated with quotations from the classics. Maybe they do so to earn more money or perhaps they think they are expected to write in such a manner. But it is obvious that they are mostly indifferent to the topic on which they are writing. Anyway, reading Russian daily newspapers is a waste of time, and I almost never read them.
But the main thing I would like to say is that I was very displeased when some months ago a page headlined "Science Focus" disappeared from The St. Petersburg Times. Your newspaper was much finer with Science Focus than it is without. I understand that business information and information concerning movies, restaurants and places for saying prayers is more important for the majority of your readers, and they are not very interested in science. I understand that advertisements are very important for your paper since it is a free publication.
But I think that a Science Focus page once every two or three weeks would not do much harm. Scientific information ought to be published. It deserves to be published, because it is not just information, but knowledge. And knowledge, in my opinion, is very important.
Oleg Kuznetsov
St. Petersburg
NATO Dreaming
In response to "Russia and NATO: Achieving the Impossible," a comment by Ira Straus, Oct. 5.
Editor,
This concept of admitting Russia into NATO is, simply put, mind-boggling. Bu, in essence, this solution for Russia and the rest of the world would work to our mutual advantage. After all, this is what NATO is all about. Why should we not invite Russia to join NATO and thus assure our mutual defense and tranquility?
With Russia as an ally and a NATO member, we could quite literally face down any threat, including the Chinese and any problems in the Middle East. Also the cost of the alliance could be more bearable if shared with Russia.
The real thing that Russia has to know is that such an alliance will not come without a cost of support.
It seems that the world really is coming to a consensus that mutual defense is a commodity that must be shared by all countries. As the French say, "All for one and one for all." I really do heartily endorse this revolutionary concept and hope earnestly that Russia will indeed be admitted into NATO.
Benjamin Rhoads III
Virginia Beach, Virginia
Salt of the Earth
In response to "Different Reactions to National Disasters," a column by Vladimir Kovalyev, Oct. 2.
Editor,
On Kovalyev's next visit to the United States, I would suggest that he take the time to come to the heartland, to the cities, towns, and spaces where he can see and talk to Americans who truly are the "salt of the earth" and also to many Russians who have moved here and have contributed greatly to the American experience.
After all, Americans and Russians have been a "band of brothers" in the Great War and reaching for the stars in outer space.
I am coming to St Petersburg to visit and see for myself a great city. Our common features are more important than our differences. Have faith in yourselves and revisit the roots of the Russian soul - in the church and in the family.
Americans have many material goods, but these are no substitute for the ideals of freedom and our original faith in the one God. And yet, there are many who believe differently, and that's freedom. Russia is a geat country.
Paul Bradford
Tulsa, Oklahoma
Russian Spoken?
In response to "English Spoken?" a letter to the editor by Steve Hoss, Oct. 2.
Editor,
As one of over 4 million Russian-speaking persons living in St. Petersburg, I would like to offer a modest counterproposal to the one mentioned in this letter: stop fighting and join us.
Average American ninth graders studying Russian master the alphabet in five class hours. After six weeks of once-a-day instruction, they can communicate the essentials of life and write basic compositions about their experiences. One can only speculate as to how much faster these steps could be taken by an educated, motivated, English-speaking adult living in a full-time Russian-language environment.
The day Mr. Hoss' letter appeared, The St. Petersburg Times carried three ads for Russian-language instruction, as well as four for English-speaking guides. That's where he might best "spend his money easily", and indeed in a manner in which "everyone wins," as he puts it: Hoss opens himself to a rich new world of language, commerce and cultural experience even as he supports local teachers (or guides) whose success in their professions allows them to patronize the businesses that advertise in your newspaper.
Mark Teeter
St. Petersburg
Anti-Israeli Bias
In response to "U.S. Asks: Why Do They Hate Us So Much," a letter to the editor from Marc Bumgarner, Oct. 2.
Editor,
I've been reading The St. Petersburg Times and thoroughly enjoying this outlet for a long time, until lately that is. One of the reasons for my dissappointment is your recent turn toward poorly masked anti-Israeli bias in selecting your opinion pieces.
This letter particularly disgusts me in light of the Sept. 11 tragedy. Bumgarner blames the attack on Israel because the Palestinians have "a legitimate national claim."
What claim is that? Is it to drive the Israelis into the sea? In that case, Bumgarner might as well join Hamas or Hezbolla because it ain't going to happen.
In case this claim is a peacefull state coexisting with Israel, the Palestinians happened to reject it twice, in 1948 and again in 2000.
The rest of Bumgarner's letter is even more ridiculous. I won't waist my time on it. My point is that this is not the only piece of the kind that you have published recently, and there was no opposing view on this matter either. Please try to balance your act out, or you'll find yourselves competing with the outlets run by Vladimir Zhirinovsky and company.
George Collins
Duluth, Georgia
Wild Man Bush
Editor,
President Vladimir Putin says that the attack on the World Trade Center can be compared in cruelty to Russia's experiences during World War II and then follows by saying that America must conduct a thorough investigation before taking any military actions.
Sigh! Why can't our president sound equally sensible? Why does our president keep coming off like a wild man pushing extremist policies like "missile defense," whereas Russia's president keeps sounding like a grown-up? Very distressing.
I just finished surfing your Web site for the last few issues. Many thanks to the Russian people for their thoughtful and caring comments.
Richmond Gardner
Horsham, Pennsylvania
Why the Attacks?
In response to "Civilization Has Come Full Circle," a column by Yulia Latynina, Sept. 28.
Editor,
Latynina's commentary on the attacks on the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington contains assertions that should not be allowed to stand.
Let me start with her suggestion that a fat, prosperous America brought this devastation upon itself by reason of its a) wealth; b) arrogance; c) underhanded intervention in the affairs of other countries; d) unwillingness to "fight to the end"; or e) all of the above.
Nothing the United States has ever done could possibly justify the slaughter of thousands of civilians, nor is it likely that anyone could trace what happened to any particular event. Those who planned and carried out these barbaric acts may indeed have grievances with U.S. policies or actions, but this was a monstrous deed born from a formless hatred for the country as a whole.
Were it not one reason for attacking our civilians, it would inevitably be another for those who have lost all sight of their own humanity. Neither the United States nor any other country can be expected to tailor its policies, domestic or foreign, to the fevered fanaticism of extremists.
Unlike the ancient empires that Latynina cites as having collapsed under the weight of their own wealth and arrogance, the United States did not become prosperous and powerful by the armed subjugation of other nations and a wholesale expropriation of their wealth. Its affluence has been built on the labor, ingenuity and creativity of peoples of many national and ethnic roots, large numbers of whom fled their native countries because of grinding poverty, a lack of opportunity and oppression.
Furthermore, the United States is no empire, nor has it ever been an empire. It is a federation of states that willingly joined for their mutual benefit.
I have myself been a stringent critic of my country's foreign policy over the past decade, believing it to be ill-advised and predicated on a moral superiority that we cannot necessarily claim. To its credit, the current administration appeared to be attempting to move away from this supposedly moral interventionism in the internal affairs of other countries and from the absurd proposition that national sovereignty is a matter to be decided on an ad hoc basis by other countries.
On the other hand, underhanded intervention in the affairs of other countries has always been a part of international relations and it is not going to disappear, however unpalatable it may be to some. It is one way that human beings at every level of organization, from families to states, act in order to protect and promote their interests, and it is equally characteristic of powerful and weak states.
At any rate, it leaves more initiative and power in the hands of those affected than does a direct military assault, especially when the latter involves a balance of power heavily favoring one party and the casus belli may be something as trivial as not liking the way another country runs its domestic affairs.
As for whether the United States is prepared to fight to the bitter end, the definition of what constitutes "the end" quite properly depends on what the goals are. The United States certainly fought to the bitter end in both world wars and for far longer than was wise in Vietnam.
In other cases, such as the Gulf War, it fought and achieved the goals it proclaimed, one of which was not to hunt down and destroy Saddam Hussein. It was only with Slobodan Milosevic that we saw United States and NATO foreign policy reduced to a focus on a single individual, in the course of which we allowed that obsession to justify any actions we chose to undertake. Is that really a wise foreign policy, or better than the "underhanded intervention" in Yugoslavia that eventually allowed the Serbians themselves to choose their course?
It is of course true that the way of life in the developed democratic world is an open invitation to the kind of tragedy we saw in the United States on Sept. 11. If enjoying democratic freedoms that have been a beacon to those oppressed elsewhere amounts to being "molly-coddled," why then I suppose Americans are guilty as charged.
Not to worry, however. The brutality of the madmen who deemed the lives of thousands of innocents to be a pittance in pursuit of their varied grievances is likely to result in some curtailments of those unparalleled freedoms, much to our sadness.
Finally, I would like to address Latynina's amazing suggestion that our "intellectually lazy" president, failing to understand the stakes, has offered an inadequate and perfunctory response predicated on the calculation of political ratings or a boost in profits to the military-industrial complex. Setting aside the intellectual hubris inherent in the comments, are we to understand that Latynina has access to highly secret military information that the hordes of journalists in Washington and elsewhere have failed to obtain?
As far as I understand, no one outside a small circle knows at this point precisely what actions the United States has in the planning. It is highly unlikely, however, that there is going to be a new Vietnam in Afghanistan, or, as Russians might see it, a new Afghanistan in Afghanistan.
Whatever happens in the shortterm will be no more than the immediate reaction and first step on a very long and complex road. The United States president, his administration, the U.S. Congress and the American people understand all too well that what is at stake is our very way of life. We understand that this horrifying threat is not to be resolved by a single military action, or a minor battle, or a one-time assault.
It is clear that serious, well-thought-out measures are being taken in Washington to identify the scale of the threat and to wage constant war against it in all forms, from the military to the diplomatic, in the United States and abroad. The United States is working hard to create a global alliance against terrorism in recognition that every democratic country is at equal threat.
Yes, the fat and prosperous United States has at last absorbed an almost unbearable grief of its own. But we are not about to give up our fundamental liberties, or allow any group of fanatics who nourish themselves on a hatred of our country to determine our future. I think those who doubt our resolve will be surprised to see that America can still fight to the bitter end, and prevail.
Norma Brown
Moscow
Muckraking Floyd
In response to "Global Eye," a column by Chris Floyd on Oct. 2.
Editor,
I think Chris Floyd's take is great. Is there such thing as a global award for muckraking? Chris, for sure, would get my vote! As for my fellow countrymen who write all the time, lighten up!, You're still in some "fraud-friendly Florida" voting booth, if you really think George W. Bush has such a universal appeal here!
John Hazouri
Jacksonville, Florida
TITLE: Muslims Face a Crisis
AUTHOR: By Fawaz Gerges
TEXT: FOR Muslims of the Middle East and south and central Asia, the moment of reckoning arrived this weekend. The Bush administration has made what are, for an American government, extraordinary efforts to show that the war that began Sept. 11 will not be the war Osama bin Laden wants: a battle between Islam and the rest of the world, particularly the United States. Whether Muslims in the region accept, encourage and further this American effort will determine much of their fate in coming years. It will also determine how effective the war against terrorism will be.
The outlook does not, for the moment, seem bright. A week ago I participated in a conference in Beirut on how Arabs and Muslims should respond to the campaign against terrorism. Present were leading political activists and politicians representing the broad spectrum of public opinion in the Muslim world. Despite the efforts of President George W. Bush to allay the fears of Arabs and Muslims by stressing that the United States will wage a relentless war on terrorism and its state sponsors, not on Islam and its adherents, the American message seemed to have fallen on deaf ears. Liberals, leftists and Arab nationalists sounded as suspicious of American war aims as the representative from Hezbollah.
Most participants claimed that the United States aims at far more than destroying Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda organization and toppling the Taliban regime. These representatives of the Muslim world were almost unanimously suspicious of America's intentions, believing that the United States has an overarching strategy that includes control of the oil and gas resources in central Asia, encroachment on Chinese and Russian spheres of influence, destruction of the Iraqi regime and consolidation of America's grip on the oil-producing Persian Gulf regimes.
Many Muslims suspected the Bush administration of hoping to exploit this tragedy to settle old scores and assert American hegemony in the world. This was despite the fact, unacknowledged by the conference participants, that the terror attack has forced the young president to shift focus from his domestic agenda to the world arena and that he has been dragged to war against his own will.
Compounding the discrepancy between American and Middle Eastern perspectives is a genuine skepticism about the culpability of Muslims in the terror attacks. Engrained suspicions raised by Muslim opinion makers reflect deeply held sentiments among the general public.
Many Middle Easterners with whom I spoke advanced conspiracy theories to explain what had happened. A Christian director of a Western bank in Beirut claimed that only "international Zionism possessed the means and the will to undertake this hideous act." These nonsensical views are held by both the man on the street and some in the intelligentsia. It remains to be seen whether the pitilessly aggressive statements by bin Laden and al-Qaeda spokesperson Sulaiman Abu Ghaith will erase such beliefs among the Muslim public.
Those individuals who did accept the culpability of the Arab perpetrators usually drew a comparison between the terror attacks on America and shortsighted, unjust American policies that have alienated and antagonized most of the rising social classes in the region. In short, they believed America has reaped what it sowed.
Most of the participants, who represent the pulse of mainstream Muslim public opinion, strongly cautioned their governments against joining the American coalition on terrorism and warned that people would oppose any sustained military assault on a Muslim country, including Afghanistan.
To date, the United States' case for war against terrorist networks has not been effectively communicated to Arabs and Muslims. America's representatives abroad have yet to engage civil-society leaders and opinion makers in the Muslim world and fully explain the nature and purpose of Washington's strategy. The earlier ambivalence of Arab and Muslim governments, Egypt and Saudi Arabia in particular, to participate aggressively in the American campaign against terrorism stems from a legitimate fear that an escalation of hostilities would incense their citizens and undermine their political stability. Now, after the start of military action, American emissaries will need to convince all Arabs and Muslims that Muslim societies must not allow a few fanatics to commandeer their political future.
As this war continues, the United States cannot afford to neglect the painful and frustrating, but critical, work of building bridges to Muslim peoples and societies. This task requires cultural sensitivity, understanding and full political and economic engagement with the Muslim world.
American diplomats, even on the eve of war, have remained distracted and distant from the Muslim public. American embassies in the Middle East have long been impenetrable castles separated from the local communities. American ambassadors hardly venture out to participate and interact with the intellectual and cultural life in those countries. The United States would have benefitted from investing in an Arabic-language media outlet similar to that of the BBC World Service. As matters stand, the video statement by Osama bin Laden - that the events of Sept. 11 and afterward "have divided the world into two parts, a part that espouses faith and is devoid of hypocrisy, and an infidel part, may God protect us from it" - comes as a culmination of years of anti-American broadcasts.
It is not too late to show how important questions of justice have been and will be in American foreign policy. The United States needs to invest directly in Middle Eastern civil societies to improve governance, education, health and quality of life. The challenge in gaining greater understanding in those societies will not be easy, but American diplomats can help by overcoming their own bunker mentality. The use of force against the Taliban and Osama bin Laden was unavoidable given the terrorist threat. But the long-term aim of reducing anti-American fervor among Islamic extremists will still best be achieved by directly engaging with the Muslim people. The military response that began yesterday only makes the hard nonmilitary work, in the next weeks and years, more necessary than ever.
Fawaz Gerges is a professor of Middle East and international affairs at Sarah Lawrence College and author of "The Islamists and the West." He contributed this comment to The New York Times.
TITLE: Different Ways Of Expressing Love for City
TEXT: WITH just 18 months to go before the city celebrates its 300th anniversary in 2003, I've begun to notice all the various ways in which locals manifest their love for St. Petersburg.
Some people wander around in awe, their eyes cast upward toward the Admiralty spire or the golden domes of St. Isaac's Cathedral or the multi-colored extravaganza that is the cupolaed roof of the Church the Savior on the Spilled Blood.
Others pay more attention to the mud under their feet, afraid of sinking away into some puddle or having a passing car wash them away. The latter would like to make St. Petersburg cleaner, but the former consider them traitors.
Last week, the local Democratic Russia political faction published a selection of postcards entitled "St. Petersburg: Chosen Places," dedicated to the upcoming jubilee. The set of 12 cards lovingly depicts the scenes of some of the city's most notorious assassinations over the last few years, none of which have yet been solved.
Included among the sites depicted in the series is the building on the Kanal Griboyedova where State Duma Deputy Galina Starovoitova lived and was gunned down in November 1998. You can also see the corner of Nevsky Prospect where Mikhail Manevich was shot by a rooftop sniper as he drove to work at the City Hall Property Committee in August 1997.
When I asked Governor Vladimir Yakovlev's spokesperson, Alexander Afanasiev, what his reaction was, he was plainly shocked. For several seconds, he said nothing.
"There could be three or five people [standing there], and each of them would have a different impression of the same spot on Nevsky Prospect. One would be impressed by the beautiful panorama, and another would see nothing but cigarette butts on the sidewalk. I would have chosen to show a different picture," Afanasiev said.
I remember back in 1997 when The St. Petersburg Times was doing a special supplement dedicated to an annual global real-estate exhibition that takes place each year in France. We wrote an article about the history of the development of the local real-estate market and City Hall's role in it. For some reason, the article was illustrated by a picture of Mikhail Manevich's funeral.
When the authorities found out about this, they called it a "provocation," and removed all the copies from the stands at the exhibition. The paper's editor argued that the article merely drew attention to some facts of recent local history that cannot be ignored.
But no one listened to him.
The officials were convinced that the paper had placed that photo in a deliberate effort to wreck City Hall's plans to attract foreign investment.
They just didn't get it then and they still don't.
City Hall thinks that the people in Democratic Russia hate St. Petersburg. But I know this isn't true.
"I love the city of Pushkin, Blok and Akhmatova, the city of Mandelshtam ... a city whose culture was created over centuries. But the present City Hall authorities have nothing to do with that," said Ruslan Linkov, the local head of the faction.
I think that all Democratic Russia is trying to do is to attract attention to a serious problem. All they want is for the city to be clean, for the government to be honest and for crimes to be solved.
Some people say that there is only one step from love to hatred. It's all in how you look at things.
TITLE: Local Project Could Mean Good News
TEXT: PEOPLE can hardly be blamed for not wanting to pick up a newspaper or watch the evening news on television these days. In addition to the regular horrors that we've been hearing out of Chechnya for the last two years, now there are the U.S. air strikes in Afghanistan, with the accompanying looming humanitarian crisis and the threat of political instability in Pakistan and beyond.
Against this background, it seems almost absurd to take joy in the news reported on Page 3 that a local newspaper has created a page on its Web site that is intended to bring local noncommercial organizations providing essential services together with businesses that might be able and willing to help them. Nonetheless, we are encouraged by this effort, which strikes us as a creative and big-hearted initiative that deserves to be both applauded and imitated.
The business daily Delovoi Peterburg, owned by the Swedish Bonnier publishing group, has partnered with the Center for the Development of Noncommercial Organizations to create a permanent mechanism to bring those who are doing good in contact with those who are doing well. And, in the end, everyone in St. Petersburg should be the beneficiary.
The idea is simple. The newspaper will post appeals for monetary and in-kind assistance from noncommercial organizations ranging from schools and hospitals to libraries and shelters. Some of the businesspeople who turn to the site for its respected business reporting will, it is to be hoped, be intrigued enough to click on the page.
Already, for instance, the site has posted a proposal from the Nochlezhka foundation, which is inviting restaurants and grocery stores to donate leftover food for distribution among the city's homeless. Nochlezhka's proposal notes that although there are an estimated 8,000 homeless people in the city, charity organizations are currently providing only about 250 meals a day for them.
Delovoi Peterburg's project is aptly called "Social Investment," for that is what such acts are. A relatively small commitment by business now will pay large and growing dividends in the future, in the form of educated workers, reduced insurance costs, lower HIV and tuberculosis infection rates and so on.
We tip our hats to our colleagues at Delovoi Peterburg for undertaking this initiative. We hope that the business community will seize this opportunity to help ease the city's daunting social problems.
Budgetary resources are certainly inadequate for coping with the tasks the city faces today, and effectively mustering other resources, especially those of the business community, can bring relief to people who are suffering.
TITLE: Chris Floyd's Global eye
TEXT: Speech Impediment
First, a stipulation: The Sept. 11 attacks on New York City and Washington were almost certainly instigated and carried out by the forces of religious fascism, who alone bear the responsibility for this atrocious crime.
We hope readers will excuse the stupefying obviousness of the above declaration, which wastes their precious time by repeating common knowledge. Unfortunately, in these dicey days you can't be too careful; there are legions of cranially constricted poltroons out there - some of them in the corridors of power - who regard anything other than slavish bellowing in praise of the Dear Leader to be an act of treason or an apology for terrorism. Therefore it's necessary to issue these tedious disclaimers to avoid being ranged with "the bad guys" in the increasingly cartoon version of reality being foisted upon a shaken world.
Or as Humphrey Bogart once said, in a not-altogether-dissimilar situation, "My, my, so many guns around town these days, and so few brains."
So just to make it clear: the Global Eye stands on the side of democracy - you know, that system where countries are led by those who actually receive the most votes from the electorate - and for liberty, law, tolerance, justice, mercy and truth; just like the "good guys." The Global Eye is against tyranny - you know, where countries are ruled by leaders who weren't chosen by the people, like Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Jordan and that place between Canada and Mexico - and against oppression, censorship, injustice, terrorism (of both the state and "privatized" varieties) and religious fascism in all its manifestations, from the perverted Islam displayed Sept. 11 to, say, the genocidal Christian Fundamentalism of General Efrain Rios Montt, whose Guatemalan regime killed tens of thousands of people during its Reagan-backed reign in the 1980s.
Of course, examples from almost every religion under the sun could be offered in this regard - and yes, from atheistic ideologies also, to restate yet again the painfully obvious - but you get the idea. Now, having made the abject profession of loyalty and all-around good-guyness currently required for the exercise of free speech, can we move on?
Masters of War
Question of the day: Who benefits most from the looming "war against terror?"
Leaving aside, of course, the intangible benefits that will accrue to us all if Mr. Bush fulfills his vow to "rid the world of evildoers" and "eradicate terrorism" - stirring promises somewhat undercut by his own secretary of defense, Donald Rumsfeld, who says eradicating terrorism "sets too high a threshold," while adding that, basically, the rest of the world can go hang: "What we are attempting to do is to assure that we can prevent people from adversely affecting our way of life.'' If the evildoers hit Cairo or Kuala Lumpur next time, then that's O.K.
Mr. Bush's desire to lift arms-sales restrictions against U.S.-declared sponsors of international terrorism such as Syria and Iran also seems strangely at odds with eradicating terrorism and evil - but no doubt the grand strategy behind giving weapons to those who give weapons to those who murder in cold blood is part of the super-duper "secret war" that will remain forever hidden from our delicate sensibilities. Or as one top Pentagon planner admitted last week: "We're going to lie about things." Old news, perhaps, but the candor is refreshing.
Then again, maybe releasing the spigot on arms sales to all and sundry is not so strange after all, when considering the question of who benefits. For as The Wall Street Journal reports, some of the biggest financial profits of the new overt-covert conflict will flow to two famous families much in the news these days: the bin Ladens and the Bushes.
The Saudi-based bin Laden family conglomerate, from which the estranged Osama received a $50-million inheritance before falling out over his predilection for blowing up representatives of the family's Western business partners, is intricately tied to the Carlyle Group, a little-known but immensely powerful investment firm stocked with old Reagan-Bush hands, including the old hands of George Bush Senior.
Carlyle deals in "private equity": buying and shuffling companies in hush-hush trading - "a high-end business," says The New York Times, "open only to the very rich." Like Old George, who sits on the Carlyle board and rakes it in from the sweetheart deals his comrades cut with their old pals in governments around the world. For Carlyle prefers companies that are state-regulated; two-thirds of its $12 billion in investments are in - wait for it - defense and telecommunications companies. Regulated firms, you see, are more amenable to profitable intervention by well-lobbied government officials. None of that "free market" malarkey for these boys!
The Carlyle Group even put l'il Georgie on the payroll in 1990, when the wee lad was at a loose end before God called him to higher office. Dad found Junior a featherbed on the corporate board of Caterair, an airline-catering company and Carlyle subsidiary.
Carlyle is now one of America's largest defense contractors, "owning companies that make tanks, aircraft wings and a broad array of other military equipment," The New York Times reports. And that means boffo box office when the bombs begin to fall. Even before the attacks, Carlyle Chairman Frank Carlucci, a former Reagan secretary of defense, was jawboning his successor - and old college classmate - Donald Rumsfeld on behalf of Carlyle-backed weapons, including the aptly named "Crusader" heavy tank.
The bin Laden group has plowed millions into Carlyle aerospace firms - the rockets' red glare means lots of long green, don't you know - and now the cash registers will be ringing from the Persian Gulf to Kennebunkport. No wonder George Senior has twice made the humble hajj to bin Laden HQ in Jeddah.
So yes, it's true: The Sept. 11 attacks were the work of religious fascists, who alone bear the responsibility for that atrocious crime. But the wise man knows how to turn unexpected adversity to his own advantage. Or as Dear Leader Junior put it just the other day: "Through my tears I see opportunity."
TITLE: Oktoberfest Comes to St. Pete
AUTHOR: By Chantal Rumble
PUBLISHER: Special to The St. Petersburg Times
TEXT: As the icy fingers of winter start to tickle, the time has come to roll out the barrel, drink beer and be merry.
The ever-popular Bavarian beer festival Oktoberfest raised its head in St. Petersburg on Friday with the opening of a 10-day celebration at the Sheraton Nevskij Palace Hotel, kicked off by none other than St. Petersburg Vice Governor Gennady Tkachov.
"Everybody is happy, and everybody drinks beer," Consul General of Germany Ulrich Schöning said over a liter of fine German draught beer on Friday night, "People want to be happy one last time this year before winter sets in." Schöning added, however, that one Oktoberfest per year is definitely not enough.
Schöning's comments notwithstanding, it seems that it will take some time before the traditional German holiday really takes hold locally. Neither the consulate nor local German businesses are planning any events to mark the festival.
Only the Nevskij Palace is taking up the challenge of importing this holiday to St. Petersburg.
The hotel's festival will run all week in the downstairs mall where the management has recreated the atmosphere of a traditional German beer garden, albeit one sporting a bright Botchkarov beer umbrella. The festival will feature live Bavarian music, an extensive buffet of German foods and, naturally, free-flowing draught German and Russian beer. Wait staff is dressed in traditional German costume, called Trachten.
Although this year marks just the sixth St. Petersburg Oktoberfest, 2001 was the 168th rendition of the festival in Germany, which is considered to be the largest public festival in the world.
The holiday's roots go back to Oct. 12, 1810, and the wedding of Crown Prince Ludwig and Princess Therese of Saxony-Hildburghausen in Munich. Forty thousand local citizens were invited to the festivities, celebrating the occasion in a large field in front of the city gates, which was henceforth called Theresienwiese in honor of the crown princess.
The wedding was such a success that it was immediately transformed into an annual festival for all of Bavaria. The royal family commissioned a series of horse races to conclude the celebration.
The next year, the races and all the festivities were enlarged and repeated, thus giving rise to the tradition of Oktoberfest. The festival has been celebrated every year since, except for a few cancellations due to cholera outbreaks and wars.
Despite its roots as a wedding and a harvest celebration, Oktoberfest now is first and foremost associated with beer, which was actually only added to the festival in 1896. The horse races were canceled in 1938. Nonetheless some of the event's original features have been retained and to this date, a major agricultural fair takes place each year at the Theresienwiese in Munich. In 1950, Munich Mayor Thomas Wimmer gave birth to another Oktoberfest tradition by declaring, "Ozaptft is!" ("The keg is tapped") at the opening ceremony.
The Munich event has grown to international stature, although attendence was down this year by about one-third compared to last year because of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the United States.
"Although there is a certain culture of beer drinking, it is not only about drinking. [Oktoberfest] is about the atmosphere," Schöning said.
The atmosphere was indeed festive at the Nevskij Palace Friday as about 150 guests attended the opening. Among them were Netherlands General Consul Henrik Everaars and Ilya Tchakov, the son of the vice governor, who together won the team wood-sawing competition.
Also in attendence were the consuls general of Austria and Japan and Dr. Stephan Stein, director of the German Business Association of Northwest Russia.
Wolfgang Prommer, director of plant design at KHS, won one of the many drinking competitions. Although he had just returned from the Oktoberfest in Germany, Prommer was impressed by the local festivities. He said that the event has great potential in Russia, where the presence of German beer companies is already strong and a natural affinity between the Russian people and the spirit of the festival is evolving.
So far, however, the hotel is targeting its festival at the local expat community, particularly at Germans who are homesick for their local customs. However, increasing numbers of Russians are interested in learning what the excitement is all about. Hotel management expects to see the tradition continue to grow.
According to Schöning, there is only one rule of Oktoberfest: no drunkeness.
"That's the rule," he laughed. "But some people don't obey this rule."
TITLE: Humble Plaque Marks Another Lost Tsarevich
AUTHOR: By Robert Coalson
PUBLISHER: Staff Writer
TEXT: No one visiting the graves of the Russian tsars in the cathedral of the Peter and Paul Fortress can miss the magnificent tomb of Peter the Great, in a place of honor before the iconostasis and almost always covered in flowers.
However, it takes a bit of searching to find the grave of Peter's eldest son, Tsarevich Alexei, who is also entombed in this royal sanctuary. Alexei is not to be found among the royals surrounding Peter or anywhere in the main hall of the cathedral.
Instead, his marble plaque hangs on the wall beneath the staircase leading up to the cathedral belfry. On one side hangs the grave marker of his wife, a German princess and the sister-in-law of the Austrian emperor, Sofia Sharlotta-Khristina, who died in childbirth in 1715; on the other is one for one of Peter's sisters, Maria Alexeyevna.
Although Alexei had long been estranged from his father, many historians date the finale to this drama from the death of his wife. After Sofia died, Alexei became increasingly idle and obsessed with religion, two traits that the energetic, Westernizing tsar could not abide. Peter made some efforts to train his son to take over the empire after him, but Alexei's opposition to Peter's reforms and his general disinterest in politics left the tsar outraged.
Toward the end of 1715, Peter wrote to Alexei and threatened to disinherit him, to which Alexei offered to renounce the throne. Before he did so, though, he apparently changed his mind and fled to Austria instead, embarrassing Peter who was on a state visit to Copenhagen at the time. Considerable diplomatic efforts, including promises of amnesty, were made to persuade the tsarevich to return to Russia, which he did in 1717.
He then officially renounced his claim to the throne in a ceremony at the Cathedral of the Assumption in the Moscow Kremlin, but was nonetheless arrested on June 24, 1717, and imprisoned in the Peter and Paul Fortress. That very day, a hastily arranged court sentenced him to death for treason, but before the sentence could be carried out, his jailers began to torture him.
According to fortress records, "the rack was applied at 11:00, and that same day at 6:00, the tsarevich gave up his soul."
Apparently, the most mercy Peter could find in his heart for his son was to grant him a tiny corner of the royal cathedral and the eternal company of his German wife.
A powerful evocation of this drama, Nikolai Ge's painting "Peter I Interrogating Tsarevich Alexei," hangs today in the State Russian Museum.
TITLE: Ex-King Suggested For Afghan Leader
AUTHOR: By Raf Casert
PUBLISHER: The Associated Press
TEXT: LUXEMBOURG - European Union foreign ministers debated a proposal Monday to use Afghanistan's former king and the United Nations to install a democratic government in Kabul.
Under the French proposal, the United Nations would set up a transitional government "representative of the Afghan people" if the U.S. and British strikes launched Sunday succeed in toppling the Taliban regime, which harbors prime terror suspect Osa ma bin Laden.
Afghanistan's exiled former king, Mohammad Zahir Shah, who was deposed in 1973, would play a key role in the new government. He is seen in Europe and the United States as being a possible figurehead for a post-Taliban government.
"The Afghani people deserve a government which is truly representative and which corresponds to their needs and aspirations," a statement from the EU ministers said. "Such a government will find a ready partner in the EU."
Neighbors Iran and Pakistan would be closely involved in any diplomatic initiatives to stabilize Afghanistan, officials said.
In Rome, the former king said Sunday that the United States had a "legitimate right" to pursue those responsible for the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, but urged U.S. and British forces to avoid harming innocent Afghans.
"Unfortunately, the unpatriotic position of the Taliban and their sponsors has again inflicted pain, sorrow and destruction on the people of Afghani stan," the king said in a statement issued by his office.
"Although we recognize the United States' legitimate right to pursue and seek justice against those who perpetrated the criminal acts of Sept. 11, our paramount objective is the safety, integrity and dignity of the Afghan nation and the Afghan territory," the king said.
Zaher Shah, 86, ruled Afghanistan for 40 years until his 1973 ouster by a cousin. He has lived in exile in Rome ever since, but is still fondly remembered in Afghanistan for the relative peace and prosperity that flourished during his rule.
Since the Sept. 11 attacks, Afghans and outsiders have looked to Zaher Shah as the only Afghan who might be able to unify Afghanistan's many ethnic and religious groups.
Last week, he and the anti-Taliban Northern Alliance agreed to convene an emergency meeting of tribal and military leaders to select a new government for Afghanistan.
A supreme council - of an initial 120 people representing the Northern Alliance, the king and various tribal and ethnic groups - would select the government itself if "dire" circumstances prevented the meeting from taking place in Afghanistan.
The monarch, who met with alliance commanders at his home on the outskirts of Rome last week, is planning to send an envoy to Pakistan to meet with top government officials, aides said.
The envoy, likely to be Hedayat Amin Arsala, an adviser to the king and a former foreign minister, could leave within a few days, aides said.
"Whatever may occur in the next few weeks," a French paper on the proposed administration said, "Afg hans need to rebuild their country politically."
TITLE: WORLD WATCH
TEXT: Collision Kills 114
MILAN, Italy (Reuters) - All 114 passengers and crew on two planes that collided at Milan's Linate airport Monday died in the accident, Italian Transport Minister Pietro Lunardi said. Another four cargo handlers in a baggage zone that was hit by the Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS) jet are missing, he told a news conference at the airport.
"The rescue teams went into action immediately but it was impossible to save anyone in the planes. They are all dead," Lunardi said.
The SAS MD-87 jet with 104 passengers and six crew, bound for Copenhagen, crashed into a baggage hangar after colliding with a German Cessna plane with four people on board. The Italian Interior Ministry said a combination of human error and bad weather was almost certainly to blame for the disaster. Terrorism was ruled out as a possible cause.
Food Aid Halted
ROME (Reuters) - The United Nations World Food Program halted food-aid shipments to millions of Afghans after the U.S.-led strikes overnight but aims to resume deliveries as soon as possible.
"There will be no more food-aid shipments for the time being," WFP's chief spokesperson Trevor Rowe said.
"We have to see what the impact of this will be," he added. "As soon as we knew there was a bombing, we took a very logical decision."
Nobel Prize Awarded
STOCKHOLM, Sweden (AP) - An American and two British researchers won the 2001 Nobel Prize in medicine on Monday for basic discoveries in cell development that are expected to lead to new cancer treatments.
Leland H. Hartwell, 61, director of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, R. Timothy Hunt, 58, of the Imperial Cancer Research Fund in Hertfordshire, England, and Paul M. Nurse, 52, of the Imperial Cancer Research Fund in London will share the $943,000 award.
The scientists were honored for discovering key regulators of the cell cycle, which is the process cells go through to divide.
UN Chopper Crashes
TBILISI, Georgia (AP) - A helicopter was shot down Monday over Georgia's breakaway Abkhazian region, killing five UN military observers and all five others on board, Abkhazian officials said.
Four crew members and a translator were killed along with the UN observers, said Vyacheslav Ankvad, deputy defense minister of the self-declared government. He said investigators had not yet reached the site where the helicopter fell because of the difficult mountainous terrain.
UN Office Set Ablaze
QUETTA, Pakistan (Reuters) - Anti-U.S. demonstrators attacked UN buildings in the capital of Pakistan's Baluchistan province Monday, setting ablaze the office of the UN children's agency and hurling rocks at the adjacent refugee agency.
"The crowd was surging down the road. It was pretty scary because we had staff in there," Rupert Colville, spokesperson for the office of the UN High Commissioner for Refu gees, said.
"We've got high walls around our offices, but the protesters managed to break our windows by throwing stones. They attacked the UNICEF building nearby and set it on fire. Fortunately noone was hurt."
TITLE: SPORTS WATCH
TEXT: Mariners Tie Record
SEATTLE, Washington (Reuters) - The Seattle Mariners lost their final game of the regular season 4-3 to the Texas Rangers on Sunday and finished with 116 victories, tying the 1906 Chicago Cubs for the most wins in a season.
Having already bettered the 1998 New York Yankees' American League victory win total (114), the Mariners (116-46) were looking to surpass the Cubs on Sunday afternoon but fell one run short.
The Mariners won 10 of their final 12 games following a season-high four-game losing streak and they compiled their record win total by leading the American League in batting, pitching and fielding.
They are the first team to accomplish that feat since the 1948 Cleveland Indians.
Flordia Grabs Top Spot
GAINSEVILLE, Florida (AP) - Florida is No. 1 again.
The Gators grabbed the top spot back from rival Miami in the AP media poll Sunday on the strength of overpowering victories the last two weeks.
While Miami defeated Troy State 38-7 on Saturday, Florida beat LSU 44-15 after its 52-0 win over Mississippi State the week before.
Florida (5-0) soared ahead of Miami in The Associated Press Top 25 with 30 first-place votes and 1,739 points from the 72 sports writers and broadcasters on the AP panel. The Hurricanes (4-0) had 23 first-place votes and 1,719 points.
Last week, Miami led Florida in first-place votes, 34-22, and points, 1,744-1,725.
Voters were obviously more impressed with the Gators' win at LSU in a Southeastern Conference game than the Hurricanes' easy win over a weaker team playing its first season in Division I-A. LSU (2-2) was No. 18 entering the game.
In the USA Today/ESPN coaches poll, Miami remained first and Florida second, just two points behind.
Kenyan Shatters Mark
CHICAGO (Reuters) - Kenya's Catherine Ndereba capped a historic week in women's marathon running Sunday when she took 59 seconds off the world best, clocking two hours 18 minutes 47 seconds in Chicago.
The previous record time of 2:19:46 was set by Japan's Naoko Takahashi in Berlin just last weekend - the first time a woman had broken the 2:20 barrier.
Ndereba, the defending Chicago champion, had talked of setting a new mark before the race and she described her performance as a "dream" after crossing the line.
"I was surprised and thanked God that I had run under 2:19. This was my first race in very cold weather, the very coldest for me."
As was the case in Berlin, Kenyan men finished in the top three places with a rabbit (or paceman) winning. Ben Kimondiu was hired to set up five-time world cross-country champion Paul Tergat but instead he won the race in 2:08:52.
TITLE: 2001 Season Goes Down as One for the Ages
AUTHOR: By Ben Walker
PUBLISHER: The Associated Press
TEXT: Barry Bonds can reflect on his 73 home runs. Rickey Henderson can enjoy his 3,000 hits. Tony Gwynn can prepare to become a college coach.
The Houston Astros, however, have no time to spare. They've got to prepare for the postseason as the NL Central champions.
On a final day full of individual achievements and honors, the Astros won their fourth division title in five years. They beat St. Louis 9-2 at Busch Stadium on Sunday, leaving the Cardinals as the wild-card team.
"Clinching on the last day is very exciting," said Shane Reynolds, who earned his 100th victory. "It is one of the highlights of my career."
The Astros will open the best-of-five first round against Atlanta on Tuesday at Enron Field. Houston holds the home-field advantage throughout the NL playoffs.
The Cardinals, who also were assured a playoff spot before the game, will face Arizona on Tuesday night at Bank One Ballpark.
"Today wasn't a do-or-die game where the loser had to go home," said 22-game-winner Matt Morris, who will start Game 1 for the Cardinals. "So I don't think we're real upset."
Elsewhere, there were celebrations.
Bonds gave future sluggers a new number to chase, hitting home run No. 73.
Bonds homered four times in the last four games, capped by a drive off knuckleballer Dennis Springer in San Francisco's 2-1 win over Los Angeles at Pacific Bell Park.
"Today's home run, I was just in shock," Bonds said. "The chance of hitting a home run off a guy who throws that slow is slim. I just said, 'What else can you give me, God? Enough is enough.'"
Bonds, who last week broke Babe Ruth's single-season record for walks, ended the season with a slugging percentage of .863, far surpassing the mark of .847 set by Ruth in 1920.
"That's the one I think is not going to be broken," Bonds said. "I wouldn't be surprised if someone breaks 73. I don't know if that record will still exist next year."
Said Giants manager Dusty Baker, "It seems Babe ain't going to have many records, is he?"
At San Diego, a crowd of 60,103 that hoped to see Gwynn get one final hit instead watched Henderson get No. 3,000.
Henderson blooped a double leading off the first inning, becoming the 25th member of the exclusive club.
"It's a great feeling, a feeling that you can't really describe," he said. "I thought I would never get there because I walk so much. If you continue to play as long as I've been playing, you get the opportunity to do it."
Last week, Henderson broke Ty Cobb's career record for runs.
Gwynn, who is retiring to become a coach at his alma mater, San Diego State, after the 2002 season, grounded out as a pinch hitter in the ninth inning.
Gwynn finished with eight NL batting titles, a .338 lifetime average and 3,141 hits.
"It's been unbelievable," Gwynn said in a ceremony after the Padres lost to Colorado 14-5. "Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine I'd be standing here after 20 years feeling good about a decision I made a year and a half ago. But I do. I feel I've done all I can do as a baseball player.
"Like my older brother, he's been a teacher for more than 20 years, now it's my turn to teach."
In other games, Florida beat Atlanta 4-2, Milwaukee downed Arizona 15-5, Pittsburgh defeated Chicago 4-3, Philadelphia beat Cincinnati 4-1 and Montreal blanked New York 5-0.
Atlanta fell again at Turner Field, and became the first team in major-league history to reach the postseason despite a losing record at home.
The NL East champions finished 40-41 at home.
Mike Lowell hit a two-run double in the first inning and reached a career-high 100 RBIs with his final swing of the season, singling home a run in the ninth.
Richie Sexson hit his club-record-tying 45th homer and singled during a 10-run fourth inning at Miller Park.
Luis Gonzalez hit his 57th home run for Arizona. He finished with 100 extra-base hits.
Milwaukee rookie Ben Sheets (11-10) won for the first time since June 29. The All-Star had lost six-straight decisions.
Sammy Sosa hit his 64th home run in Chicago's loss to Pittsburgh.
Sosa dedicated his solo shot to Arne Harris, the producer-director for most of the Cubs' telecasts in the last 38 years. Harris collapsed and died Saturday night at age 67.
The Pirates won two of three at Wrigley Field, and took consecutive series for the first time this season.
Randy Wolf pitched Philadelphia to its first three-game sweep at Cincinnati since 1989.
The Phillies went 86-76 in manager Larry Bowa's first year. Last season, they tied the Cubs for the most losses in the majors with 97.
Pat Burrell hit a two-run homer and an RBI double.
Britt Reames and Montreal relievers combined on a three-hitter at Shea Stadium.
After year after winning the NL pennant, New York finished 82-80 and in third place. The Mets were shut out 12 times this season and were last in the league in runs.
TITLE: Six European Teams Added to 2002 World Cup Field
AUTHOR: By Stephen Wilson
PUBLISHER: The Associated Press
TEXT: David Beckham scored off a free kick in injury time Saturday, and England qualified for the World Cup with a 2-2 tie against Greece.
On a day of 21 World Cup qualifiers, Italy clinched its berth when it beat Hungary 1-0 on Alessandro Del Piero's goal in the 44th minute. Denmark, Russia, Croatia and Portugal also qualified for soccer's top event.
Next month's playoffs for the final European berths also took shape. Three-time champion Germany plays Ukraine, Belgium meets the Czech Republic, Turkey faces Austria or Israel, Slovenia meets Romania, and Ireland plays the third-place team from Asia.
At Manchester, England (5-1-2) appeared headed for a shocking defeat and a place in the playoffs until Beckham beat goalkeeper Antonis Nikopolidis on a 25-meter free kick three minutes into injury time.
"One had to go in," Beckham said. "I had quite a few free kicks and was disappointed with most of them. When I got my last chance Teddy Sheringham said he would have it but I decided I'd take it."
Germany (5-1-2), which finished a scoreless tie against visiting Finland (3-2-3) minutes earlier in Gelsenkirchen, appeared set to win Group 9 until Beckham scored.
Angelos Charisteas had put Greece (2-5-1) ahead in the 36th minute on an 18-meter shot that beat goalkeeper Nigel Martyn, but Teddy Sheringham tied the score in the 68th minute, just 13 seconds after entering the game.
One minute later, Demis Nikolaidis put Greece in front 2-1 on a 6-meter shot.
At Parma, Italy (6-0-2) won Group 8 by defeating Hungary (2-4-2). Del Piero scored in the 44th minute, curving a free kick over a defensive wall from just outside the penalty area.
In other games that determined berths, Croatia upset visiting Belgium 1-0, Denmark defeated Iceland 6-0, Russia beat Switzerland 4-0 and Portugal routed Estonia 5-0.
Coming into Saturday, Sweden, Poland and Spain had clinched spots and Turkey was assured of a place in the playoffs.
The 32-country field at next year's tournament in Japan and South Korea also includes the co-hosts and defending champion France along with confirmed teams Argentina, Cameroon, Costa Rica, Nigeria, Senegal, South Af ri ca and Tunisia.
Craig Brown resigned Saturday as coach of previously eliminated Scotland following a 2-1 win over visiting Latvia at Glasgow.
In the day's lone exhibition game, the first meeting between France and Algeria was halted in the 73rd minute at Saint-Denis after hundreds of fans invaded the field and were dispersed by riot police. France led 4-1 at the time.
At Moscow, Russia (7-1-2) routed Switzerland (4-4-2) as Vladimir Be schast nykh scored three goals, converting a penalty kick in the 14th minute, heading in a Rolan Gusev's pass in the 19th and heading in Yegor Titov's pass in the 38th. Titov scored in the 83rd.
At Ljubljana, Slovenia (5-0-5) beat out Yugoslavia (5-1-4) for a playoff spot as Nastja Ceh scored twice in his debut for the national team, which defeated the Faroe Islands 3-0. Senad Tiganj, also making his international debut, got the final goal over the Faroes (2-7-1).
At Lisbon, Portugal (7-0-3) defeated Estonia (2-6-2) and edged Ireland for first place on goal difference. Nino Gomes and Luis Figo scored two goals each and Joao Pinto scored once.
At Dublin, Ian Harte, Niall Quinn, David Connolly and Roy Keane scored to lead Ireland (7-0-3) over Cyprus (6-0-2).
At Copenhagen, Denmark (6-0-4) got four goals in the first half against Iceland (4-5-1), two by Thomas Gra ve sen and one each by Dennis Rom medahl and Ebbe Sand. Sand and Jan Michaelsen scored in the second half. At Prague, Tomas Rosicky and Pavel Nedved scored two goals each, and Milan Baros and Vratislav Lokvenc scored one apiece to lead the Czech Republic (6-2-2) into the playoffs over Bulgaria (5-3-2).
At Chorzow, visiting Ukraine (4-1-5) won a playoff spot with a 1-1 tie. Emmanuel Olisadebe scored for Poland (6-1-3) in the 40th minute, but Andriy Shevchenko tied it in the 81st after Poland goalkeeper Jerzy Dudek, under pressure from Sergiy Popov, failed to hold a pass.
At Zagreb, Croatia (5-0-3) - a semifinalist at the 1998 tournament - moved past visiting Belgium (5-1-2) into first place on Alen Boksic's goal off a pass from Bosko Balaban in the 76th minute.
Romania (5-2-1), which lost out on first place with Italy's win, tied Georgia 1-1 when Gheorghe Popescu scored in the 88th minute at Bucharest. Alexander Iashvili scored in the 54th minute for Georgia (3-4-1).