AFGHANISTAN

• Iran has informed Afghan refugees that it is time to go home and is "encouraging" them to do so by withdrawing social services.

• Kidnappers holding three UN workers are demanding the release of 26 Taliban prisoners within two days. Some of the Taliban prisoners may be at Guantanamo.

• With the election behind him, it is now time for Hamid Karzai to deliver results in Afghanistan.

• Writing for IWPR, Paul Barker of CARE International (hardly a disinterested party) says that Provincial Reconstruction Teams are not living up to their promise.

• If he is as old as he claims, 109, Badam, a Pashtun nomad may have been Afghanistan's oldest voter.

• An Arabic-language soap opera set in Taliban-era Afghanistan has been pulled from the air after Islamic militants threatened to attack anyone attached to the show if Taliban rulers were slandered in any way.

TURKESTAN REGION

• Officials have temporarily retreated from implementing the law that caused the riots but vow to press forward, causing tensions to remain high. While most analysts focus on Islamic fundamentalists as the primary source of Central Asian instability, I would put the smart money on merchants being a much more likely candidate for toppling Central Asian governments--particularly Uzbekistan's.

• What does a second Bush administration mean for Central Asia? Steven Sabol says that the US may put more pressure for reform on Central Asian governments, but that relations under Kerry would likely have been very similar. Roger McDermott says that, however things develop, the United States faces many challenges in the region.

• Confirming what most watchers of the region would likely guess, Transparency International finds that corruption is widespread throughout Central Asia and is a major hurdle to foreign investment and development.

• Moreso than China, India is a quiet partner of many Central Asian governments. Asia Times Online argues that India is following China's lead in its Central Asia relations.

• In specific news of India's doings in the region, India and Uzbekistan have signed an IT agreement and Uzbekistan seeks visa liberalization and free trade with India.

• Many Uzbeks flock to Tashkent seeking work. However, the country still uses the Soviet propiska system that requires official residence cards to remain in a location. The mayor of Tashkent has ordered that unofficial residents be fired from their jobs and expelled from the city. The official explanation is that they pose a security threat. About 3,700 people have been expelled to date, including a number of skilled professionals.

• The State Department has renewed warnings of potential terrorist attacks against US targets in Uzbekistan.

• Former UK ambassador to Uzbekistan, Craig Murray, who caused controversy with his public criticism of Tashkent and his quite eccentric behavior, says that he had to speak out because he is near death. He is blaming the Foreign Office for stress that led him to become ill and is planning to take down as many officials with him as possible. The story doesn't quite add up though.

• Seeking a major supplier of oil outside of the Middle East, China has aggressively strengthened relations with Kazakhstan. The centerpiece of the new cooperation is Atasu-Alashankou oil pipeline, which may soon be joined with a gas pipeline. As a bonus to Kazakhstan, it receives a card to play against both Russia and the United States in the future, just going to show that if anyone is winning a renewed Great Game, it is the Central Asians themselves.

• The Weekly Standard sent Matt Labash on the road with Kazakhs monitoring the US presidential election under the auspices of the OSCE. As one might expect, hilarity ensues, and the biggest disruption encountered are the Kazakhs themselves as they videotape voters standing in line outside of a polling station.

• Following a period of rocky relations, Russia and Tajikistan are best of friends again with a slew of new economic and military agreements. In a tangentially related story, the US ambassador to Tajikistan recently praised the Russian military presence in the country.

• The United States has quietly granted asylum to the Uzbek journalist and human-rights activist, Ruslan Sharipov, who was was tortured and imprisoned for homosexuality and criticizing the government. Not only Ruslan, but his entire family, are now living in Sacramento.

• Turkmenistan is the land where presidential whims carry the force of law. President Niyazov's latest gripe is over bad service on the national airlines. I can guarantee that Turkmenistan's national airline will have the world's best service very soon.

• Both Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan celebrated their 80th anniversaries as distinct political bodies in their (more or less) present forms. In Turkmenistan, the day was, of course, celebrated with a parade in the president's honor. In Uzbekistan, the day was, of course, entirely ignored because of its connection to the Soviet past.

• RFE/RL looks at a unique feature of Central Asian Islam in which women play a major role as female mullahs.

CAUCASUS REGION

• As Georgia's Rose Revolution approaches its first anniversary, some key backers are withdrawing support from President Saakashvili over his heavy-handed tactics. Critics charge that Saakashvili will brook no opposition and ask whether ends justify means.

• The Russian-backed Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov warns that he is ready to invade Georgia to wipe out rebels in the Pankisi Gorge. Though I would take this with a grain of salt, rebel leader Shamil Basayev responded by saying that Checnya is a much easier place to relax than Georgia is.

• Armenia's president has pushed back the deployment of non-combat troops to Iraq after the decision generated domestic opposition. The troops, if they are eventually deployed, would serve under Polish command.

• Georgia though, has again increased its Iraq commitment. To "help Georgia sustain this deployment," the United States has announced a new military assistance program for Georgia.

LIGHTER FARE

• Red Sox Nation spreads far indeed...

The next Central Asia Briefing will appear next month. In the meantime, keep up with Central Asian news at The Argus.