Azerbaijan and Russia sign another gas deal

Gazprom has secured an agreement to supply State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) with double the amount of Russian gas in 2011, expected to total at 2billion m³. Under the agreement, Azerbaijan is expected to increase gas imports from Russian even further by 2012.

The agreement signed by Russia's President Dmitry Medvedev and Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev is the third gas purchase agreement signed in the past year between the two countries. The first agreement, signed in October last year, provided for Russian purchases of 500million m³ of gas annually.

During a joint news conference on Friday 3rd September , President Aliyev said the gas deal with Russia was “open and sincere.” He also took the opportunity to reassure Azerbaijan's Western partners that energy co-operation with Russia would not come at their expense, saying "We don't see our work in the gas sector as an opportunity for unfounded competition. We are working not on the basis of political concerns, but economic practice".

Talking about the latest deal with Azerbaijan, President Medvedev said that both countries are serious, “gas suppliers,” and will not create obstacles for one another when it come to co-operation with international energy majors.

Source: EurasiaNet

For more news and expert analysis about the Caspian region, please see Caspian Focus.

Ghana: Judicial independence debate rumbles on

Chief Justice Georgina Wood has denied allegations of corruption levelled against her by a group calling itself the Gospel Evangelical Crusades and Providence Foundation (GOEVAC-PFG).

The group, led by Reverend Kwarteng Amaning, held a press conference on 2nd September at which they accused Wood of aligning herself with the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), and called for her resignation on the grounds that she had “displayed some level of incompetence and misuse of her office during the 2008 presidential run-off.”

According to Amaning, Wood's decision to allow a court to sit on a weekend to hear a case brought by the NPP disputing the Tain constituency's 2008 election results constituted a breach of the law. He claimed Wood went beyond her remit in allowing a court to sit on a 'non-day'

A response released by Wood's office said, “For well over a year, by lawful authority under the hand of the CJ, at least two courts sit every Saturday, which is a non-day.” The statement underlined her commitment to free and fair elections, and to transparency in the judiciary, criticising recent “scurrilous or vitriolic attacks on the person of judges”.

According to local media reports the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) took Amaning in for seven hours of questioning on 4th September.

For more news and expert analysis about Ghana, please see Ghana Politics & Security.

© 2010 Menas Associates

Iran has enough enriched uranium to build nuclear bomb

According to a new report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Iran has sufficient quantities of enriched uranium to produce up to three nuclear devices, and is still continuing its enrichment process. According to the report, Iran has around 2.8 tonnes of low enriched uranium and 22kg of 20 per cent enriched uranium.

Iran's supply of uranium is being closely supervised by the IAEA, and cannot be utilised for military purposes, however Iran's consistent rejection of the IAEA decisions and prevention of official inspections of nuclear sites causes concerns that Iran is following its predetermined decision aimed at building nuclear weapons.

The IAEA report encourages Iran to “co-operate in clarifying outstanding issues” regarding its nuclear facilities and to suspend its uranium enrichment operations, despite Tehran's protestations that its nuclear programme is aimed at the peaceful generation of civilian energy. According to industry experts if Iran continues to progress technologically at this pace, it will acquire military nuclear capability by 2014.

To find out more about IAEA please visit IAEA's web site, which you can find here.

For more news and expert analysis about Iran, please see Iran Strategic Focus.

© 2010 Menas Associates

Vietnamese energy sector gets help from Germany and Russia

Vietnam is to receive a sum of €120 million as preferential loans from the German Development Bank (KfW) to carry out a €162 million project, “improving effectiveness of energy in rural areas”. The agreement was signed in Hanoi, on 7th September, between KfW and Electricity of Vietnam (EVN).

EVN will distribute the capital for the next four years, between projects to be carried out in 26 provinces, aimed to upgrade low and middle-tension electricity grids in rural areas to reduce electricity losses, ensure safety and raise the quality of electricity supply. Under the agreement, the period for repayment will be nine years.

In other areas, Rosatom's Chairman Sergey Kirienko has said that the atomic energy group and Vietnamese scientists are working on setting up a training centre for nuclear power plants and an atomic energy research institute in order to build the most modern and safest nuclear power plant. Under the terms of co-operation Rosatom Group will provide training for about 70 Vietnamese staff, to help Vietnam become a nuclear energy centre for peaceful purpose in ASEAN.

State President Nguyen Minh Triet who met with Kirienko in Hanoi, stressed the importance of the construction of a first nuclear power plant in Vietnam, and said the country looks forward to working with Russian experts who will provide Vietnam with the capital, training and technical assistance in completing the project and accelerating the country's socio-economic development.

Source: VOVNews

For more news and expert analysis about Vietnam, please see Vietnam Focus.

Violence in Darfur higher than in previous two years

Sudan has admitted an increase in violence in Darfur, estimating around 1,200 people killed in conflict and armed clashes. Sudan's State Minister for Humanitarian Affairs Mutrif Siddiq said that violence in the region has “increased this year compared to the previous two years".

"The increase in violence rates is attributed to two reasons. The first is infiltration of the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) into Darfur after the reconciliation between Sudan and Chad, and the second was the tribal clashes," he said.

The minister said that Khartoum has "a comprehensive plan to enhance the security in Darfur," and stressed the significance of disarmament, particularly inside the camps of internally displaced persons (IDPs), further adding that "the humanitarian principles must be applied in the IDP camps which should not be turned into hotbeds for the rebel movements."

Siddiq confirmed Sudanese government's commitment to disarm all persons inside IDP camps, saying "arms must be at the hands of the regular forces only". In order to speed up the realisation of peace in Darfur, the Sudanse government plans to strengthen the presence of official institutions in the region, develop security and improve relations with the neighbouring countries.

Source: People's Daily Online

For more news and expert analysis about the Sahara region, please see Sahara Focus.

Nigeria - Boko Haram killings in Maiduguri to be curtailed by army

Nigerian army and local police are patrolling the city of Maiduguri after a series of killings suspected to have been carried out by the Islamist group, Boko Haram. Twelve people, including seven policemen, have died in the past month.

The perpetrators are believed to have carried out the killings on motorcycles, which have now been banned from the city between the hours of 1800 and 0700.

"This is only the beginning. If this strategy doesn't work, we will call for a total ban on motorcycles in the state," said Borno state police commissioner Ibrahim Abdu.

The killings started last year when Boko Haram members attacked a police station in Maiduguri before clashes spread to neighbouring areas. Most of those killed were supporters of the Boko Haram, who wants to see Islamic law imposed across Nigeria. The group is opposed to Western education and accuses Nigeria's government of being corrupted by Western ideas.

Source: BBC News

For more news and expert analysis about Nigeria, please see Nigeria Focus and Nigeria Politics & Security.

Iran's purchase of Azerbaijan gas to rise to 10 bcm

Tehran's Ambassador to Baku Mohammad Baqer Bahrami has said that upon completion of a new gas pipeline between Azerbaijan and Iran, the volume of gas purchased from Azerbaijani will rise to 10 bcm per year.

The two countries are currently in the process of signing a “long-term gas contract," and work is underway to expand the gas compressor station in Astara. Commenting on bilateral ties, Bahrami said that the Iran-Azerbaijan relations have entered a new phase.

"We want to buy five billion cubic meters of gas. In this direction, SOCAR implements the improvement of an existing pipeline," added Bahrami.

In March 2010, Chairman of the State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) Rovnag Abdullayev announced that Azerbaijan is ready to supply Iran with five bcm of natural gas per year once the infrastructures are set in place.

Source: Fars News Agency

For more news and expert analysis about the Caspian region, please see Caspian Focus.

For more news and expert analysis about Iran, please see Iran Strategic Focus.