Cia Azerbaijan
Combating Transnational Crime and Corruption in Europe
The ILEAs also play host to focused regional seminars and specialized training programs. Over 4,000 criminal justice officials have participated in specialized training programs since 1996. One such specialized program, presented by the Justice Department’s Office of Overseas Prosecutorial Development, Assistance and Training (OPDAT), focuses on organized crime and is designed to familiarize prosecutors and investigators with the special problems involved in pursuing organized crime cases and to provide practical exposure to specialized investigative tools. ... [Read More]
Europe and Central Asia
AlbaniaI. SummaryDrug trafficking remains a significant issue for Albania. Organized crime uses Albania as a transit point for drug smuggling due to its strategic location, weak police and judicial systems, and lax border controls. The most common illegal drugs are heroin, cocaine and marijuana. Heroin is typically routed through the "Balkans Route" of Turkey-Bulgaria-Macedonia-Albania, and on to Italy and Greece. Although Albania is not a major transit country for drugs coming into the United States, it remains a country of concern to the U.S. Drug abuse is a growing problem, but remains on a small scale compared with Western Europe. Statistics continue to be unreliable on drug trafficking or use, and the public is generally unaware of the problems associated with drugs.The Government of Albania (GOA), largely in response to international pressure and assistance, has been confronting crim ... [Read More]
US and Coalition 2001
Captured Taliban soldiers revolted at the Qala Jangi prison near Mazar-e Sharif. Hundreds were believed to have been killed in several hours of fighting that included U.S. air strikes that were directed by U.S. Special Forces and British Special Air Service troops. Most of the captives were believed to have been foreign members of the Taliban. The Defense Department first denied that any U.S. military personnel were casualties, but said that a CIA officer had been wounded. The CIA declined to comment. The Defense Department later admitted that five U.S. soldiers were wounded by a stray bomb. Fighting continued in the prison until November 28. ... [Read More]
Department of State Washington File: Transcript: State Department Noon Briefing, October 20, 2003
MR. ERELI: To my knowledge, there are no meetings scheduled with State Department officials and Fatah officials. Should that, should that not be the case, I'll let you know. ... QUESTION: A follow up on this. Deputy Secretary Richard Armitage, according to Azeri official media, called to the President-elect Ilkham Aliyev, and according to Azeri official media, he congratulated him. ... QUESTION: The OSCE human rights had deplored the wave of arrests in Azerbaijan. There is information that election officials from opposition being arrested and also opposition members being arrested en masse. Do you have any information about this, and do you have anything to say about that? ... [Read More]
Department of State Washington File: Transcript: State Department Noon Briefing, February 8, 2001
Q: In the last few days, former State Department and Pentagon official, Mr. Merry in a series of articles in newspapers and periodicals, makes some very strong accusations about the Greek Government, the government party in Greece. Among them, that the government party in the Greek Government considers human life of Americans and some Greek officials who are not -- who are non-Pasok members, as expendable. Do you have any position on that? ... So in terms of the regional approach to peace that Secretary Powell has described, and I think the President has described as well, I mean certainly the regional parties and people interested appreciate the need to pursue a regional approach, appreciate the fact that we want to work with them to achieve peace in this region. And so I think I would say the reception is generally positive, but obviously as we get down to work, as we talk to people more specifically, there may be different views at that point about how we proceed. ... [Read More]
U.S. Department of State - Washington Hyper File
(President also discusses Iran, Lebanon after visiting CIA headquarters) (2220) ... (President's schedule, Bush phones Portuguese Prime Minister-designate Socrates, Syrian/Lebanon, Iran, Social Security, week ahead) (2640) ... [Read More]
U.S. Department of State - Washington Hyper File
(CIA appointing Charles Duelfer, former UNSCOM official, as replacement) (720) ... (Special Envoy Baker, Iraq, Halliburton, Omnibus bill, report of infiltration of Democratic computers, Iran, space program, immigration, homeland security, budget, judicial nominees, food safety, deficit, pensions) (6340) ... 506 Transcript: Testing All U.S. Cows for BSE Not Necessary, Officials Say ... [Read More]
Electronic Research Collection: Country Background Notes Archive
This Electronic Research Collection archive provides access to older State Department Country Background Notes as a research collection of scholarly interest. To preserve their historic value,these Background Notes are not updated to reflect continual changes within countries. If you are seeking only the most recentinformation on countries, please visit the collection of current Background Notes on theState Department main website, or the CIA's World Factbook. ... [Read More]
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