AZERBAIJAN OPPOSITION DENIES INVOLVEMENT IN CUSTOMS POST INCIDENT. Husein Djavadov, a leading member of the Nakhichevan branch of the Azerbaijan Popular Front Party, has rejected allegations by Azerbaijani Interior Minister Ramil Usubov that members of his party arriving in Nakhichevan from Ukraine instigated the violence at the Sadarak border crossing between the Azerbaijani exclave and Turkey earlier this month (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 14 July 1999). A spokesman for residents of Sadarak similarly denied any involvement by the Popular Front, attributing the clash to customs officials' unfair treatment of local residents, Turan reported on 16 July. The Azerbaijan Popular Front Party's Nakhichevan branch and some Azerbaijani newspapers have attributed the fighting to rivalry between mafia groups. LF

ABKHAZ PARLIAMENT-IN-EXILE CHAIRMAN DEMANDS PUNISHMENT FOR KODORI KIDNAPPERS. Tamaz Nadareishvili, who is chairman of the Abkhaz parliament-in-exile (composed of the ethnic Georgian deputies to the Abkhaz parliament elected in late 1991, has cancelled international travel plans and will remain in Tbilisi until the persons responsible for the 9 July kidnapping of the entire Abkhaz government-in-exile are found, Caucasus Press reported on 16 July. Nadareishvili blamed the abduction on "those who cannot reconcile themselves to the existence of legitimate Abkhaz authorities, especially on the eve of parliamentary elections" (see "RFE/RL Caucasus Report," Vol. 2, No. 28, 15 July 1999). He has founded his own political party to contest those elections. Nadareishvili planned to visit Azerbaijan and Ukraine to discuss the possible participation of those countries in an international peacekeeping force for Abkhazia. He also intended to address the UN Security Council in New York. LF

UKRAINE TO PAY GAS DEBT TO RUSSIA WITH GOODS. During Russian Premier Sergei Stepashin's 15-18 July visit to Ukraine, the two sides agreed that Ukraine will pay its gas debt to Russia through commodity supplies, including food, and Russian defense orders worth $300 million will be written off as debt repayment. Russia says Ukraine owes $1.8 billion for Russian gas, while Ukraine insists that the state gas debt totals $1 billion, with the rest owed by commercial traders. The sides failed to agree on the prices of goods to be supplied in repayment. Ukrainian Premier Valeriy Pustovoytenko is to visit Moscow next month to sign an accord on the repayment deal. In Sevastopol, Stepashin pledged to resolve the financial difficulties of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, adding that they should be addressed through the "mutual cancellation of debts and direct supplies." JM

KYIV SUMMIT FAILS TO RESOLVE TRANSDNIESTER CONFLICT. Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma, Moldovan President Petru Lucinschi, Transdniester self-styled leader Igor Smirnov, and Russian Premier Stepashin failed to find a resolution to the conflict in Moldova's Transdniester breakaway region but said they hope to make progress soon. The sides signed a joint declaration calling on the conflicting sides to work toward reuniting in a single state. "There are differences of principle between us on the approach to the [Transdniester] status," Reuters quoted Smirnov as saying. Moldova is ready to grant wide autonomy to the Transdniester, while the region seeks a "confederation" agreement with Chisinau. JM

UKRAINIAN PARLIAMENT OKAYS TROOPS TO KOSOVA, AMNESTY FOR 40,000. The parliament on 16 July approved Kuchma's bill on sending 800 troops to Kosova (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 16 July 1999). The same day, it endorsed a presidential bill on amnesty, under which more than 40,000 convicts are to be released from overcrowded prisons. JM

MOLDOVAN PRESIDENT SATISFIED WITH KYIV SUMMIT. Petru Lucinschi, returning from the Kyiv summit on 17 July (see above), said the meeting "marked an important step toward a final settlement of the Transdniester conflict," RFE/RL's Chisinau bureau reported. Lucinschi said that "for the first time" the two conflicting sides had agreed on the "principles" that must guide the resolution of the conflict--namely the formation of single "economic, judicial, and social space within Moldova's existing borders, recognized by the international community." He said it is now up to experts from the two sides to work out how to implement these principles. Lucinschi praised the "constructive position" of the Russian, Ukrainian, and OSCE mediators, saying that Russian Premier Sergei Stepashin has "confirmed the intention...to proceed with the withdrawal of armament and troops" from Moldovan territory. MS