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#7
Moscow Times
December 18, 2001
Rumsfeld Stumbles Into Cacophonous Caucasus
By Chloe Arnold

BAKU, Azerbaijan -- "I'm told I'm the first United States secretary of defense to visit Azidge-bajan," Donald Rumsfeld told reporters squeezed into a drafty room at the top of the presidential administration building Saturday. "And, er, I'm very pleased to be here today."

I suppose when you're on a whistlestop tour of the South Caucasus -- all three countries by teatime -- it's easy enough to forget their names. Never mind that Azerbaijan has told the United Sates it can use its airspace for military action in Afghanistan or that Azeri troops are gearing up to serve as peacekeepers in Kabul if they are needed.

The journalists traveling on Rumsfeld's private plane didn't have much of a clue about where they were in the world, either.

"Have you been in this neck of the woods before?" I asked a man from ABC, who was trying to decide which of his three mobile phones to call his office from.

"I don't think so," he said. "The nearest I've come is Spain."

It was a shame he didn't have longer to spend in each country so that he could see some of the sights or taste the national cuisine, I said.

"Yes," he said, "but at least I'll have the stamps in my passport."

Rumsfeld had clearly been sent to the Caucasus to do some back-slapping. Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia have thrown their weight behind the U.S. coalition against terrorism, and their airspace would provide a useful corridor between Russia and Iran for planes taking off from NATO airbases in Turkey.

The three nations are unlikely to change their stance on the campaign in Afghanistan, but it's as well to keep them happy. Azerbaijan has much in common with neighboring Iran, which has stayed out of the anti-terror coalition. They are the only two predominantly Shiite Muslim countries in the world, and some 30 million Azeris live in the north of Iran.

Since Sept. 11, three Saudi Arabians and three Egyptians linked to terrorist organizations have been deported from Azerbaijan. And Egyptian Islamic Jihad, which has connections with Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida network, has been active here in the past.

Meanwhile, Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze has admitted that Chechen separatist fighters are living in Georgia -- and reports say Chechens have been fighting alongside the Taliban in Afghanistan.

Western diplomats have long pointed to the Caucasus as a staging post for weapons that come up from the Middle East on their way to Europe. For all the support they have pledged, it seems the U.S. government still wants to keep an eye on Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia. Provided, that is, it can remember their names.

Chloe Arnold is a freelance journalist based in Baku, Azerbaijan.

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